Adopted Sister part 2
by janeysf03
Summary: What if Sam and Dean had an adopted sister? Part two of the series.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

A little over 4 months later…

Sarah slowly made her way down the driveway to Bobby's house, holding her left arm over her stomach and dragging her right leg slightly behind her. She was so focused on reaching the house that she didn't notice a familiar car parked over by the garage.

After knocking on the door, she breathed a sigh of relief when she heard footsteps inside the house. She did not have enough energy to break in.

"Thank God, you're home, Bobby…" She said softly as the door opened. Only it wasn't Bobby standing there. She stared in disbelief at the man before her. She managed to whisper, "Dean?", before fainting.

Dean managed to catch her before she fell backwards, off the porch.

"Sarah? Sarah?!" Dean growled trying to rouse her. When she didn't respond, he picked her up and carried her inside. "Help! I need help in here!" he yelled.

Sam and Bobby raced to Dean as he placed Sarah on the couch.

"What happened?" Bobby asked kneeling down next to Sarah and started examining her.

"I don't know. I opened the door and she fainted. She about feel off the porch!" Dean said anxiously.

"You probably surprised her. Up until last week you were dead, remember?" Bobby grunted at him sarcastically.

"Guys. Look at her stomach. She's bleeding!" Sam yelled, running into the kitchen to get a towel.

Bobby gently pulled her shirt up to expose her stomach, which had several knife wounds that were covered in stitches. Some of which had ripped. "What on earth did she get into?" Bobby muttered.

"No clue. I'm gonna do a sweep of the yard. Make sure nothing had been following her." Dean said after examining some cuts on her arms and hands. "Come on Sam."

Sam threw Bobby the first aid kit and followed Dean out. Bobby quickly re-stitched and re-bandaged her wounds as she slowly started to wake up.

"Bobby?... Is it really you?" She asked weakly.

"Yeah, it's me ya idjit. What happened to you?" He asked with a face full of concern.

"Thank God, it's you!", She said relieved before trying to sit up and hug him, but ended up falling back in pain.

"Now just lay back. You're safe now, but I need you to tell me what happened. Where did you get all these wounds?" Bobby asked holding her hand.

"About a month ago, I was jumped by a gang of demons. It was 8 against one. I didn't have a chance. I should be dead… They should have killed me… I wish they had killed me… Instead of…" Sarah whispered, her eyes distant and full of tears.

"Instead of what?" Bobby asked pulling Sarah back from her memories.

"They captured me. Held me prisoner. But a few days ago I overheard them. They were saying how, they wanted to send a gift to someone. Then something about sending pieces anyway. I don't know how, but I knew they were talking about killing me. I used all of the strength I could muster to escape. I almost made it out without too much damage but another demon surprised me. Cut me up really bad, but I caught it off guard and got away. Managed to get to a hospital and got stitched up."

"Oh, I'm sorry sweetie. Thank God you're alive! I should have tried harder to reach you… I should have found you!" Bobby said getting mad at himself.

"Don't Bobby. It's not your fault. I went off by myself. I knew the risks. I knew there might be casualties." She said again getting a distant look in her eyes.

Bobby gave her a look that said he didn't believe her, then said, "Well, how do you feel right now? Do you think I should get you over to a hospital? Make sure that you're okay? You're pretty weak and you fainted."

"I thought I saw someone. I must have been hallucinating." She mumbled putting a hand over her eyes. "I must have lost more blood than I thought."

"What did you see?" Bobby asked.

"Dean." She whispered. Her eyes filling with fresh tears as her head started to spin.

"About that…" Bobby started saying as Sam and Dean walked in the room.

"Sarah? You're awake!" Sam exclaimed kneeling by her. Sarah instantly looked uncomfortable, forcing herself to sit up, moving away from him a little in the process.

"Hey there." Dean said awkwardly.

Sarah just looked up at him with her eyes wide and unblinking. "Wha…? How?..." She said before a look crossed her face and she turned her attention to Sam. "What did you do? What did it cost?"

"It wasn't me." Sam stated sitting on the couch with her. She glared at him and shifted uneasily.

"Then how?" She demanded.

"An angel." Dean said.

"That's not possible. Angel's don't exist."

"Trust me. I reacted the Same way, but they are real and not all that nice." Dean explained.

"And how am I supposed to know it's really you?" Sarah asked narrowing her eyes at Dean and fighting off a wave of dizziness.

"Sarah, we did all the tests. Salt, silver and holy water. It's really Dean." Sam said.

"And I'm just supposed to believe you." She spat at Sam.

"Sarah? What's all this about?" Bobby asked.

Sarah looked at the three men then focused in on Dean, "When Sam was at Stanford and John was on his own hunts, we had a ritual we would do every Tuesday night. What was it?"

Dean looked at her and said with a small smile, "Well taco Tuesdays, of course."

"And what would I always call you on those nights?"

Dean smirked before saying, "You used to call me a gaseous anomaly. Although, I do remember some of those nights where you would put me to shame with your skills in that area."

"The night before you died, you came to see me. What did you find on me?" She asked.

Dean's brows furrowed before another smirk crossed his face. "I found… a… tattoo. It's on your right hip… and it's…" Dean finished with a whistle as Bobby gave him a disapproving glance.

Sarah let out a breath she had been holding and said, "It's really you." Tears finally spilling down her face.

"Hey, it's alright, cakes." Dean said kneeling in front of her and wiping some of her tears away before pulling her into a hug. "It's so good to see you again."

"Oh, Dean." She whispered with a hitch in her voice as more tears fell. Dean pulled back and looked curiously at her since she didn't return his hug. She looked him in the eyes before looking away sadly and pushing him away a little. She slowly made herself stand up. "I, uh, need to lay down." She said trying to walk toward the stairs.

Dean walked over to her just as a wave of dizziness hit her and she started to sway. He quickly picked her up.

"Put me down. I can make it on my own." Sarah demanded.

"You haven't changed have you? Still stubborn." Dean joked as he carried her up the stairs. Sarah stayed quiet as he placed her on one of the beds. "Rest up." Dean said moving to place a kiss on her forehead but she turned her head away. Dean gave her another confused look and then left the room.

Sarah woke up to water being splashed on her face.

"Wha…?" Sarah yelled opening her eyes to see Bobby standing over her with an empty glass.

"Oh, thank God!" Bobby exclaimed letting out the breathe he had been holding.

"What's going on, Bobby? Why the shower?" Sarah asked noticing how dry her mouth was.

"Sorry about that but you've been asleep for three days! I kinda panicked." Bobby said giving her a glass of water.

"Three days? Really?"

"Yeah. How you feeling?"

"Um… besides groggy… okay, I guess… maybe a little hungry… make that a lot hungry." Sarah realized.

"Let me check your stitches then we'll go down and whip you up something." Bobby said moving her shirt up to expose her bandages on her stomach.

After making sure that all of her stitches were intact, he placed some ointment on them then put on fresh bandages.

"Well good news is you seem to be healing properly." Bobby said with a sigh.

"And the bad news?"

"The bad news is that you got these in the first place." Bobby mumbled leaving the room.

Sarah slowly changed her shirt to a dry one and followed Bobby downstairs where he made her a sandwich and got himself a beer.

Sarah tried to stealthily scope out whether the boys were there but Bobby noticed and said, "Sam and Dean left on a job."

She nodded, staying quiet but silently let out a sigh of relief.

"Ok, what's going on?" Bobby asked, studying her.

"What do you mean?" She asked innocently.

"You know what I mean. Why don't you want to be around the boys? I know it's a shock that Dean's back but…"

"I'm just… I'm just still a bit of a mess. I'll be back to normal soon." She lied. Bobby gave her a 'yeah right' look but let the subject drop.

Sarah stayed at Bobby's for a month healing, by the fifth week she had to get back on the road. Sitting around, doing nothing was giving her too much time to think about everything she had lost.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

After driving for almost a week trying to find a job, Sarah drove into Concrete, Washington to refuel and eat.

She had a quick lunch at Lucky Chin's Chinese restaurant, and couldn't help herself making a wish in the wishing well.

Dean & Sam were exiting the Chinese restaurant and parting ways when Dean noticed a girl walking across the street. He quickly crossed the street and walked toward her.

"Hey!" Dean said excitedly.

The girl gave him a playful, curious look before she said, "Hey", as she checked him out.

"What are you doing here?" Dean asked her.

"I'm sorry? Do I know you?" the girl asked moving away from Dean and his strange behavior.

"Quit playing. Are you on a case?" Dean asked getting serious.

"A case? I'm sorry. I think you have the wrong person." She said starting to walk away.

"What? Sarah? What's going on?" Dean said causing her to stop walking.

"How do you know my name?" She asked with a scared look on her face.

"What is this a joke? Sarah, it's me, Dean." He said grabbing her arm.

"I don't know anybody named, Dean. I really have to go. It was, uh, nice to meet you, Dean." Sarah said pulling her arm out of his grasp and trying to get away.

"Hey! Seriously, Sarah this isn't funny!" Dean said chasing after her. As he place his hand on her shoulder to stop her, she grabbed his wrist, twisted it and flipped him over. Once he was face down on the ground, his arm twisted behind his back. Sarah pushed her knee painfully into his back as she pressed a knife to his neck.

"Now, listen to me, buddy, I don't know who the hell you think you are but if you lay another hand on me, then this knife will find a new home in your throat. Do you understand me?" She said holding the knife tighter against his throat.

"Yeah." Dean managed to croak out.

Sarah released him and quickly ran to her car, leaving Dean on the ground.

After Dean picked himself up, he went back to his hotel room and tried to research the magical coin while trying to figure out what was going on with Sarah.

Sam entered the hotel room to hear Dean in the bathroom throwing up.

"Dean? You alright?" Sam asked.

"The wished turn bad, Sam. The wishes turn very bad." Dean answered with a strained voice.

"The sandwich, huh?" Sam asked amused.

"The coin was Babylonian. It's cursed. I found some fragments of a legend…" Dean said looking like he might hurl again, "I'm good. The, uh… the serpent is Tiamat, which is the, uh, Babylonian god of primordial chaos. I guess their, uh, priests were working some serious black magic."

"They made the coin?"

"Yeah, to sow the seeds of chaos. Whoever tosses a coin in the wishing well makes a wish, it turns on the well. Then it starts granting wishes to all comers." Dean explained.

"But the wishes get twisted. You ask for a talking teddy…" Sam started saying.

"You get a bipolar nut job." Dean finished.

"And you get E. Coli."

"Mmm. This thing has turned more than one town upside down over the centuries. It's even wiped a few off the map. I mean, one person get s their wish, it's trouble, but everyone gets their wish…"

"It's chaos." Sam finished for Dean.

"Mm-hmm."

"Any way to stop it?" Sam asked.

"Yeah. One way. We got to find the first wisher. Whoever dropped the coin in and made the first wish, they're the only one who can pull it back out and reverse the wishes. So for now, we've got a couple of nutso dreams come true, but once the word gets out about the well, things are just gonna get crazier and crazier." Dean said getting a weird look on his face.

"What?" Sam asked.

"I… uh… I ran into Sarah today… outside of Lucky Chin's."

"What? She's here?" Sam asked surprised.

"Yeah, but she ah…"

"What?"

"She didn't know who I was."

"How is that possible? She's known you half her life!" Sam yelled.

"I… uh… I think she made a wish." Dean said after a pause. "We have to fix this before her wish goes bad, Sammy. Who knows what could happen to her."

The next day Sam and Dean found the guy that activated the wishing well, and were taking him to the Chinese restaurant when they saw three boys being chased by a much smaller boy.

Dean stopped the impala and got out, leaving Sam to get the well deactivated.

"Hey, Kid! Can I talk to you for a second?" Dean said approaching the boy.

"Get out of my way!" the kid yelled.

"Okay. Hey, I can dig it, Todd. It's… It's Todd, right? Look, I.. I know the score. Okay? Look, I… I know the score. Okay? They're… They're bullying you." Dean tried reasoning.

"Each day. Every day! You don't know what that's like!" the kid yelled.

"No, no, I don't. But, you know, you're you and I'm me, so…"

"Couldn't stop them. I couldn't do anything. Then Audrey Elmer told me the wishing well worked."

"Okay, okay. Look… look, I get it. They're … they're mean little jerks, huh? But they're not super human like you. You see, with great power comes great respon…" Dean was cut off by Todd punching him, making him fly into some garbage cans.

Dean got up from the garbage and walked over to Todd. "Hey, Kid! I didn't want to have to do this." Dean said punching Todd, "Ohhh!" Dean yelled out, holding his hand in pain. Todd grabbed Dean by the throat and started to choke him.

Sarah was walking nearby and saw Dean struggling with the small boy and by some unknown instinct, ran over to try and stop the boy, but was then thrown back into a nearby car. After a moment, Dean and Todd noticed that the wish was reversed.

"Okay. Follow my lead and you won't have a problem. Come on!" Dean said trying to catch his breath. Dean backed up by the car with the bully's that were trying to escape and acted scared saying, "Okay, man, no more! No more, Okay?" He then turned to the bully's and added, "I wouldn't mess with this kid anymore if I were you." Dean then ran from them and back over to where Sarah had been tossed.

"Sarah? Are you okay?" Dean asked waking her up.

"Ah… What happened?... Dean?... Where are we?" She asked.

"We're in Concrete, Washington. And you were thrown into a car by a 10 year old." Dean explained.

"What? Were we on a case? When did we meet up for a case?" She asked confused.

"Here, let's get back to the hotel and get some ice on that bump on your head and see if we can fill in some blanks." Dean said helping her up.

Once back in the hotel room, Dean helped Sarah into a chair, trying not to notice how she shied away from his touch.

"Okay, tell me what you remember." Dean said handing her a towel filled with ice.

"Um… I remember driving into town, eating at the Chinese restaurant… then waking up next to that car." Sarah said placing the ice on the back of her head and wincing.

"Nothing else? Nothing at the Chinese restaurant?" Dean prodded.

Sarah thought for a moment before saying, "No, nothing else."

"Bull! You made a wish." Dean retorted.

Sarah looked startled and said, "How did you know?"

"What did you wish for?" Dean growled.

"None of your business." Sarah spat back.

"Oh, you made it my business when your wish made you forget who I was. Now what is going on?"

"Look, you died, and it messed me up. And you're alive now and I'm having a little bit of trouble dealing, okay?" Sarah shouted.

"Hey, I get that, but to wish you didn't know me. That's… that's… just tell me, what else happened. There has to be more to this than just me coming back."

Sarah stood up and walked toward the door. "Dean, I… I can't." She said through tears. "I'll, uh, call you once I work through some things."

"Sarah… Please… What are you keeping from me?" Dean pleaded.

"Please just let me go for now. I'll call you when I'm ready." She repeated before running from the room. And for the first time, Dean let her go.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

About two months later, Sam desperately called Sarah.

"Sam." Sarah said flatly.

"Sarah, thank God you answered. I need your help." Sam said hurriedly.

"Oh, you have a lot of nerve, calling me for help!" Sarah said angrily.

"I know I don't deserve it but it's Dean. He told me about hell. We went through this whole thing with the angels and now he's sleeping even less. We've done 13 jobs in the last month! He won't stop!"

"What do you think I can do? Me and Dean don't really see eye to eye on most things." Sarah asked annoyed.

"Please. We need you." Sam pleaded.

Sarah sighed heavily, "Fine. Where are you?"

"Stratton, Nebraska. We are looking into a vengeful spirit." Sam said relieved.

"Alright. I'll be there by nightfall. Oh, and Sam, this is your one and only favor. Do not ask me for help again." She said coldly before hanging up.

She pulled up next to the parked impala and saw a very shocked and pissed look on Dean's face.

"Hey guys." She said awkwardly.

"What are you doing here, Sarah?" Dean asked confused.

"I, uh, called Sam. I wanted to see you guys." Sarah said while trying to follow Sam's nonverbal cues.

Dean didn't seem to buy it and turned to Sam saying, "You called her?"

"You've been running for a month straight. You weren't listening to me. Maybe you'll listen to her." Sam yelled.

"I don't need help!" Dean growled as they heard a scream come from the house. All three of them ran toward the house. Dean got there first and started pounding on the front door. When the door opened, Dean ran in saying, "We heard screams. What's going on?"

"Oh, you two! Did you touch my daughter?" One of the men asked aggressively.

"What? No!" Dean defended.

"Who are you guys?" the man asked and then added, "And who is this?"

"Relax, please. You have a ghost." Sam said moving a little in front of Sarah.

"I told you!" the teenage girl exclaimed.

"It's the girl!" the boy added.

"Both of you, relax. What are you guys playing?" the man asked.

"Your family's in danger. You need to get out of the house now." Dean said gruffly.

Just then all the lights in the house went out.

"What the hell?" the other guy said.

"Nobody move!" Dean commanded.

They heard some howling outside.

"Buster!" the boy yelled as the men ran outside followed by Sarah and the others. They found the words 'Too Late' written in blood on the white moving truck.

After making sure that Susan and the kids were okay, Sarah approached Dean and the others.

"Head to the motel I told you about. You'll be safe there." Dean told them.

"What are you two gonna do?" Brian asked.

"Oh, no! Oh, come on! Oh, come on!" Dean yelled seeing that his tires were slashed.

"Dude, the guns are gone. So is the… Basically, everything is gone." Sam said looking at the empty trunk.

"Mine, too." Sarah said slamming her trunk closed.

"Truck's no good." Ted said joining them.

"Both tires lashed." Brian stated.

"What kind of ghost messes with a man's wheels?" Dean growled.

"What's going on? What's going on?" Kate yelled before screaming. "She's there! She's there!"

"Where?" Her mother asked.

"She was right there in the woods!"

"What's a ghost doing outside?" Dean asked Sam & Sarah.

"You want to stay and find out?" Sam asked.

"Everyone inside!" Dean yelled.

"Are you crazy? We need to get the hell out of here!" Ted yelled.

"In what? This ghost is hunting us! Everybody back inside now! Move!" Dean commanded.

After getting everyone in a salt circle in the living room and getting everyone to listen, Sam started to figure out what they were up against.

"You saw her outside, right? Okay. Does she look like either one of these girls?" Sam asked Kate.

"Her. She was paler and a lot dirtier, but that was her." Kate said quickly.

"That's the girl in the walls." Danny said confirming her.

"So it's the daughter?" Sam said to Dean.

"That girl in the picture – she… she's dead?" Susan asked timidly.

"She killed herself inside this house." Sam told her.

"So what. The maid got her story wrong? Rebecca wasn't cremated?" Dean whispered to Sam and Sarah moving away from the scared family a litle.

"Unless her spirit's just attached to something inside the house." Sam suggested.

"She hung herself in the attic, right?" Dean asked.

"You want to babysit? Sarah and I will check it out?" Sam suggested.

"No, it's just some backwoods hillbilly witch, and I'm not about to sit around here waiting for her to go all Deliverance on my ass." Ted said.

"Well, nobody's leaving the house." Dean said aggressively.

"Stop me." Ted said challenging Dean.

"Listen, man. I've got a gun. You don't get your ass back in that circle, you're gonna have yourself a third hole." Dean stated. Ted started at him for a moment then walked back over to his family.

Sam leaned over to Dean and whispered, "Dude, you don't have a gun."

"And? I'm not letting that bastard or anyone else die tonight." Dean whispered back.

"You cool?" Sam asked motioning upstairs.

"Go." Dean said back.

"Come on, Sarah." Sam said walking toward the stairway. Sarah sighed but followed Sam up the stairs, wanting to get this case over with as quickly as possible.

Once up in the attic, Sam and Sarah started searching for anything that might help them gank this ghost.

"Um… Sarah?" Sam said quietly.

"Hmm? You find anything?" Sarah asked not looking over at him.

"No… I just wanted to say thanks. You know, for coming to help. I know it wasn't what you wanted to do."

"No, Sam, this definitely is not what I want to be doing. I haven't done that in several months and look where that got me…" Sarah said practically whispering the end then added, "I shouldn't be here."

"Don't say that. Of course, you should be here with us. You're family."

"No. Not anymore, Sam. Not anymore. Let's just gank this thing and be done." Sarah said coldly.

"What? What are you saying? You know you're always welcome with us." Sam said with concern in his voice. "Why do you feel like you don't belong with us anymore?"

Sarah's head snapped up and said, "You know damn well why, Sam. Don't play stupid." Sam stood there staring at her when she said, "I found a diary. I think this is all that's up here." She then walked back downstairs to see the family run out the door. And then something started running toward her. Sam quickly walked in front of her and flashed a light in the creatures eyes making it run away.

Sam, Dean & Sarah then ran outside to check on the family.

"Hey. You okay?" Brian asked Dean.

"Where is everybody?" Dean asked him back.

"Hiding." Brian answered.

"Alright, go get them. Go. Go get them." Dean said getting rid of Brian. Then to Sam & Sarah, "So, it's not a ghost."

"So, it's just a girl?" Sam asked flabbergasted.

"It's not just a girl. It's psycho Nell. I'm telling you, man… humans. I don't know. Maybe it's the daughter, Rebecca. Maybe she didn't hang herself." Dean stated.

"Dude, no. She'd have to be like fifty years old by now." Sam said.

"Well, I don't know. What'd you find in the attic?" Dean asked.

"Some old junk." Sam said.

"And Rebecca's diary. That's about it." Sarah added handing it to Dean.

"I wish you'd found a howitzer. Listen, we got to get this family safe. I mean, it's just a human, so they can make a run for it. We just got to hold her off." Dean said giving the diary back to Sarah.

"We're okay." Susan & Kate said returning from their hiding place.

"Danny! Ted! We got to go!" Brian yelled.

"I'm good!" Ted said joining them.

"Danny! Come on!" Susan yelled.

"Danny, buddy, we got to go!" Brian yelled also.

"Told you it was some crazy bitch." Ted berated Dean.

"Yes, you did." Dean said sarcastically.

"Head to town. We'll take it from here, okay?" Sam said to Brian and Susan.

"Danny, come on, baby! We're leaving!" Susan yelled growing more panicked.

"Danny, we got to go!" Brian yelled.

They spent a few minutes trying to convince Susan that Dean & Sam would find Danny but it was useless. Susan wouldn't leave.

"Alright, until we find your son, the safest place for you right now is in the shed." Dean said.

"I'm not going out there with Mom alone." Kate declared.

"Yes, you are. It is the best defense. The windows are boarded up. It's our best shot right now. Trust me." Dean said to assure her then added, "Plus, Sarah will stay with you, keep you safe."

"What? I can help, Dean." Sarah said defiantly.

"You can help by keeping them safe." Dean said ending the conversation.

"Suse, Kate, go. Go." Brian urged them.

Sarah sighed and said, "Alright ladies, into the shed." She then bent down and removed two silver knives from her ankle holster. "Here," She said giving them to Dean.

"Hey, why didn't you bring those out before?" Ted asked sarcastically.

"We didn't need silver against a ghost, dumbass." She retorted and then turned to walk away.

"Don't you need something to help you 'protect' the girls," Ted said, emphasizing the word protect.

"Don't you worry about us, Princess. I don't need a weapon." Sarah retorted.

"And why's that?"

"Because I am the weapon." And with that she disappeared into the shed.

Sarah, Susan and Kate bunkered down in the shed with a heavy wooden table in front of the door until Sam and Brian returned. After a few minutes, Brian said, "Look, why are we just standing here? Let's go in. Let's check the house."

"We have to wait for those guys to get back, okay?" Sam said tiredly.

Just then there was a knock on the door. "Sam, it's me." Dean said.

"Help me out." Sam said starting to move the table. Once the table was moved they opened the door and Dean walked in.

"Did you get Danny?" Susan asked.

"No." Dean muttered.

"No? Well, where's Ted?"

"He's outside." Dean said not looking at them. Sarah and Sam both knew by the look on his face that Ted was gone.

"Well, why doesn't he come inside?" Susan asked not realizing Dean's demeanor.

Dean paused then forced the words out of his mouth, "Because I had to carry him out. I'm sorry."

"You're… what do you mean? What does that mean, you're sorry?" Susan said losing it.

"Are you saying that he's dead?" Brian asked.

"No. No, he's not saying that he's dead. You're not saying that, are you?" Susan sputtered out.

"We were in the walls and she attacked." Dean admitted sadly. Sarah fought her urge to try and comfort him.

"Oh my god." Susan whispered.

"And I couldn't get to him in time."

"Uncle Ted is dead?" Kate asked.

"I shouldn't have left him alone. I'm very sorry." Dean said before walking back outside.

"Sarah? Where's the diary?" Sam whispered.

"Hmm? Oh yeah…" Sarah said snapping out of the daze she was in. She pulled the diary out of the jacket and handed it to Sam.

He opened it and started skimming, holding it so that she could read it too. After a moment, Sam was listening to the others conversation more than reading, so Sarah skipped a head a few pages.

Suddenly, Sarah gasped and ran outside. She saw Dean talking with Brian. Dean looked over at her and then excused himself from Brian.

"You okay?" he asked approaching her.

Sarah let out the breath she had been holding and muttered, "I'm fine."

"You don't look fine."

"It just got a little too stuffy in there." Sarah said with a little too much attitude.

"Is the job getting to you?" Dean asked moving to put his arm around her shoulders.

Sarah quickly avoided his arm, and said, "No. It's not the job."

Dean just stared at her. He saw her hardened expression but didn't miss the hurt and unshed tears in her eyes. Slowly he nodded and walked back over to Brian.

After a few minutes Sam walked out of the shed and called Sarah and Dean over.

"What is that?" Dean asked pointing at what Sam was holding.

"Rebecca's diary. I just finished reading it." Sam answered.

"And?" Dean asked impatiently.

"That girl back there? Pretty sure she was Rebecca's daughter." Sam said.

"Rebecca had a kid?" Dean asked surprised.

"It's all she talks about. Being pregnant, being ashamed of being pregnant." Sam said.

"Jeez, rent Juno and get over it. Wait, why kill herself after the baby?" Dean said earning a very harsh look from Sarah.

"Maybe because her dad called her a dirty little whore and said he was gonna lock the baby up." Sam answered.

"Why would he say that?" Dean asked.

Sam and Sarah stayed quiet, waiting for Dean to figure out the connection.

"Oh, gross."

"Yeah."

"So the daddy was the baby daddy too?" Dean asked looking queasy.

"Dude, was a monster." Sam added.

"Wow, a story ripped from an Austrian headline. Humans, man. So she's been locked up her whole life?"

Sarah walked back into the shed then not wanting to hear what else they said. After a minute, Dean walked into the shed and approached Sarah.

"Sam and I are going back in. Keep the others safe out here." He said to Sarah.

"Yep." Sarah said not turning to look at him.

Dean almost turned to walk away when he saw a slight tremble of her shoulder. He grabbed her shoulder and spun her to face him and saw the tears falling down her face. "What's wrong?" he asked full of concern.

Sarah just shook her head, not knowing what to say. Dean placed both hands on either side of her face and started wiping away her tears with his thumbs. "Sarah, when this-"

"So help me, if the end of that sentence is 'we will talk' I will knee you so hard you won't find your balls for weeks." Sarah spat at a shocked Dean.

Just as Dean was about to say something, they heard Sam calling for Dean to hurry up. Dean continued to stare at Sarah before giving her a small encouraging smile and placing a kiss on her forehead. "I've missed this." Then he hurried out to Sam.

Sarah stood there for a moment, thinking how nice it was to feel Dean's lips on her skin again. Shaking herself out of her trance, she walked over and placed the table back in front of the door.

They all stood quietly, listening for any sounds outside when one of the boarded up windows burst. Kate and Susan screamed as Sarah tried to move them to the other side of the shed. She grabbed a rake and handed it to Susan and grabbed a shovel for herself.

Many minutes passed as they watched the now broken window. Sarah moved a little too close to the wall as a knife was plunged through a crack.

"Aah!" Sarah cried out feeling the blade pierce her right upper arm.

She moved from there as a portion of the wall fell. Susan's rake became wedged under the fallen wall. Next they see the girl try to crawl in holding her bloody knife. Sarah grabbed the shovel with her left hand and moved to hit her with it when the girl is dragged away by her ankles.

They heard her struggle and then stabbing sounds and then a loud knock on the door. Susan and Kate screamed again.

"Would you two stop screaming?" Sarah said exasperated while holding her left hand on her injury.

"Susie!" They all hear Brian yell.

All three girls rush to move the table from the door and open the door to see Brian standing outside holding a bloody knife. Susan saw Danny and rushed to him, with Kate and Brian following.

Sam and Dean appeared outside and saw the girls dead body. Sarah moved to lean on the shed causing Dean to see her. He then saw her slide to the ground.

"Sarah?!" Dean growled moving over to her. "What's wrong?" Dean scanned her and saw the blood running down her right arm. "Oh, it's just a flesh wound. Sam, get the first aid kit."

"Just stop the bleeding." Sarah said woozily.

Dean moved to take off his belt but Sarah stopped him, "No. Mine is canvas. You'll get a tighter hold."

Dean nodded and started to undo her belt. She held her breath as her body started reacting to his touch. Dean quickly removed her belt from her waist and placed it above the wound.

"Okay, let's get you up on the porch so I can see better." Dean said and before she could move to get up, he scooped her up being mindful of her injury.

"Dean! I can walk! Put me down!" Sarah yelled at him, but he just kept walking.

"Let's go in the kitchen, Dean, so we can wash it." Sam said walking up with the first aid kit. So Dean kept walking and carried her over the threshold. Sarah quietly steamed not wanting to let her mind think about how that would never happen for nicer reasons.

Dean set her down on a chair and instructed her to lean on the table and extend her arm out so he could look at it better.

"Okay, good news it doesn't look like it hit anything vital." Dean said after cleaning it.

"And the bad news…"

"The bad news is that we need to stitch it up."

"Great." Sarah said sarcastically. "Well, give me the needle. I'll do it."

"You can't even see it properly. Just let Sam do it. He'll be done in no time." Dean said pouring some whiskey on it.

Sarah hissed then said, "Give me that!" Dean handed her the bottle and she took a few big gulps to help alleviate the pain. Sam sat down and stitched her up rather quickly while Dean went back under the house to gather up all of their stolen weapons and then went to work on his flat tires.

When Sam was finished he noticed that Sarah had passed out so he cleaned everything up and then carried her outside and placed her in the back of the impala. He heard Susan tell Dean, "Thanks." Before Dean walked over to him.

"She's out cold. I should have taken the whiskey bottle away from her." Sam stated holding up the now almost empty bottle for emphasis.

"Nah, I'd rather her out cold right now instead of drunk and pissed."

"Yeah, I guess. Well, I'll take her car and follow you." Sam stated. Dean nodded and got into the impala.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The next morning, Sarah woke up in a hotel room that she didn't recognize. Her arm & head was killing her and… she wasn't in bed alone… Slowly she rolled over enough to see that Dean was lying next to her. His head a few inches from her own. His arm rested on her abdomen. For a moment she thought the last year had just been a bad dream but her latest injury from the night before pulled her out of that thought. Tears filled her eyes at how nice it felt to be next to him again.

"Sarah? You okay?" Dean asked waking up and seeing her tear filled eyes. Sarah moved to get out of the bed but Dean held on to her, so that she couldn't. "No. You're not getting up or leaving until you tell me what is going on."

Sarah turned her face away from him. Dean sighed, "Geez, Sarah, I know we can't really go back to the way we were before I went downstairs but can't we find some way to talk to each other. I mean, we're family, we should stick together."

"We are not family," was all Sarah said.

"Not this bull again. How many times do we need to tell you that family doesn't stop at blood." Dean said exasperated.

"He's right Sarah, we will always be your family." Sam chimed in from the other bed.

"No, Sam, we are not. You particularly are definitely not." Sarah said through tears. Pain and heartbreak showing in her eyes.

"What does that mean?" Dean asked curious.

"It means, that you don't beat up the only person trying to help you through your grief, if your family. You don't ignore every phone call for months. You don't ignore S.O.S. messages. You don't leave your family to be vulnerable to demon attack. You don't… You don't… Oh GET OFF ME!" Sarah yelled pushing against Dean.

Dean continued to hold her down until she swung her legs up and managed to push him away enough to wiggle out of his hold.

"Dammit Dean! Why can't you just leave me alone?" Sarah yelled at him, looking for her keys while showing she was ready to fight if needed.

"Ah! It's like we are talking in circles. You know why." Dean gruffly replied, standing up. Sam quietly got up too and disappeared into the bathroom.

"What? Because you took pity on me and decided to spend your last night with me. Besides I'm pretty sure you did that only because you didn't think you'd ever have to see me again. Now let's just cut this stupid string that is tethering us together. Now where are my keys?"

Dean looked at the desperation in her eyes and sighed before walking over to Sam's jacket and pulling a set of keys out of the pocket. He put his hand out to give her them to her but quickly pulled it back.

"No." Dean said.

"Dean, come on. Don't make me hurt you."

"No, It's my turn to talk. First of all, what you said about us is bull and you know it. What we have may not be perfect but that was just bull." Dean said causing her to look away. "And second, what are you hiding?" Sarah's head snapped up. "I deserve to know."

"You deserve to know?! Like hell!" she snapped back.

"Yes, I deserve to know what happened to make you like this. You owe it to me." He said not backing down.

"I owe you nothing. And let me say this slowly, so that it can penetrate that thick scull of yours. We are nothing. We never were anything. I had a stupid school girl crush on you and it ended up almost killing me. That's over. I feel nothing for you and I never will. So give me my keys and let me go." Sarah yelled at him.

Dean watched her for a moment then quickly pulled her to him and captured her lips. Kissing her for all he was worth. After a moment he placed a hand on her hip and the other he buried in her hair. He slowly worked his fingers under the hem of her shirt. When his fingers made contact with her skin she let out a soft moan.

Dean pulled away and looked at the haze in her eyes. "This is real, Sarah. You can't deny that."

Confusion crossed over her face and just as she was about to say something, Dean said, "Here," and placed her keys in her hand but not letting go. "Just to show you that I do love you, I'm going to let you go. You have a choice, you can go and continue to hate us. I promise I will leave you alone. Or you could stay and we can work on rebuilding what we lost. The choice is yours and yours alone and I will respect it. Just know, whatever you choose to do, I will be there for you if you need me." And with that he grabbed his jacket and keys, yelled for Sam and walked outside. Sam hurriedly grabbed his jacket and followed passing a dumbstruck Sarah.

When they were gone, Sarah Sat in one of the chairs and tried to think over what had just happened. She couldn't believe how mature he acted. But nevertheless her mind was made up and she got up to leave. She noticed that the boys would need to come back for their things and decided to leave an explanation.

Dean and Sam returned an hour later to find Sarah's car gone and the room empty. Dean let out a heavy sigh and collapsed on his bed.

"Dude." Sam said holding a letter out to Dean. "She left you a note."

Dean grabbed the paper from Sam and unfolded it.

'Dean,

I can't tell you what it means to me that you did not try to force me to stay. I admit it was very tempting, but I couldn't stay if you knew my secret. One thing you said was right. You deserve to know why I am this scarred and broken person now. Mainly because it has to do with you. So here goes.

The night Sam and I had our disagreement, I managed to get myself to a hospital. It was there that I found out that I was one month pregnant. I don't know how but by some miracle the baby survived the beating. So in this depressing time I saw a small glimmer of hope. I was actually happy. You not only gave me the best night of my life but you gave me a gift that I never thought I could have. And for two months I put down roots. I planned ahead. I even enjoyed the morning sickness. I was so happy that I had a piece of you. You weren't completely gone anymore.

Then the demons attacked me. I found out later that they captured me to make you do something in hell. I was their leverage. They threw me in a room and held me prisoner for just over a month. Then after you were pulled from hell, the demons decided to send you a present. Me. In pieces. That's when I pulled every ounce of my strength and escaped but as I was escaping a demon managed to stab me a few times. Killing the baby. That is why I can't be there with you. I see you and see not only what I lost but my failure. I failed to protect our baby. I failed you. Please forgive me.

-S'

Dean read the letter as he paced around the room then nearly collapsed into a chair.

"What? What is it?" Sam asked rushing over to him. Dean looked up at Sam with shock. "What? Dean, tell me."

"Did you know?" Dean asked.

"Did I know what?" Sam asked confused.

"She said before that she had tried calling you for months. Was that true?"

"Wha…? Uh… yeah… but…"

"So did you know?" Dean asked cutting Sam off.

"Know what?!" Sam asked frustrated.

"That she was pregnant?!" Dean yelled.

Sam stared at Dean then sat down on the bed behind him. "She was…"

"Yeah."

"Dean, I swear I didn't know. If I had I would have taken care of her."

"You should have taken care of her any ways." Dean scolded.

"I know." Sam said ashamed then said, "Wait, did she say who, uh… slipped one past the goalie?"

"Who do you think?" Dean said sarcastically.

"You two? Really?" Sam said with a slight smirk. Dean just continued to stare at the letter. After a minute Sam stood up and started to pack his bag. "If we hurry we can catch up to her."

"No." Dean said just louder than a whisper.

Sam stopped just long enough to say, "Seriously, she can't be more than an hour away."

"No!" Dean said a little more forcefully.

"What? Why?" Sam asked stopping.

"I promised her I would let her go if she left. And she left. So… I'm going to leave her alone." Dean said almost in a daze.

"Come on. You're not serious. You can't let her go off without talking to her about this."

"No, this is one promise I intend to keep." Dean said firmly.

"Then what are we going to do?" Sam asked sitting down on one of the beds.

"What we always do. Let's find us a job." Dean started sadly as he folded the letter up.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Sarah had started new work day at Sandover Bridge & Iron, Inc., by walking the halls of the twenty-second floor with her food cart. She worked from office to office eventually getting to room number 2208. After knocking on the door she said, "Excuse me, Mr. Smith, Would you like a fresh salad or sandwich?"

He looked up from the paper he was reading and smiled at her, making her pulse quicken. He got up and walked over to her and said, "How many times do I have to tell you, it's Dean?"

"Right." Sarah said smiling back at him, "Well, what would you like today?"

Dean looked like he was going to say something but he shook it off and turned his attention to the food cart. "Hmm… I was really hankering for a Cesar salad but I don't see one."

Sarah smirked at him and bent over to grab a salad that was hidden on the bottom shelf. "I thought you might want one." She said turning back to him and noticing him avert his eyes quickly from her backside.

"Thanks." Dean said when she handed him the salad.

"Well, I guess, I'll see you tomorrow." Sarah said sweetly then added, "Want anything special tomorrow?"

"Nah." Dean said, watching her begin to push the cart away then he quickly said, "Wait," causing her to stop and turn around.

"Yes?"

"Uh… um… Would you… uh… would you… be willing to bring me another Cesar salad a little later?" Dean finally asked.

Sarah gave him a confused look then said, "Sure…"

Dean quickly added, "I'm trying a new diet of mini meals throughout the day." He gave her a nervous smile.

She smiled back and said, "Sure. I'll bring you one after I'm done with my rounds." And then she left.

About 3 p.m. that day, Sarah walked the halls of the twenty second floor for the second time that day. She was almost to Dean's door when she saw a man run out of his office quickly followed by Dean, who was yelling.

Sarah dropped the bag she was holding and ran after them, stopping only when she saw that the room was the Men's room. Hearing more yelling she quickly entered the room.

"Come on. Ian. Look at me." Dean yelled.

Sarah saw that all the faucets were on and the soap dispensers were running on their own. Then the other man, Ian, turned to Dean and pulled a pencil out of his pocket. He stared at Dean for a moment before stabbing himself in the neck, then collapsed to the floor.

Dean & Sarah rushed over to Ian, Sarah placing her hand on the wound to stop the bleeding. Dean looked up and noticed her for the first time then saw an old man in the mirror. He spun around to see that no one was there.

"No! Dammit stay with me!" Sarah yelled.

"Somebody help me!" Dean yelled.

After Dean finished telling the cops what happened it was Sarah's turn. She told them what happened then had to give them the clothes she was wearing for evidence. Thankfully a secretary on that floor had a dress she could borrow.

When she was done, she went straight to Dean's office and walked right in, to see Dean pulling on a new shirt over his very tanned muscular torso. She stood there unable to move then jumped when someone knocked on the door behind her.

"Come on in." he said then noticed that it wasn't only Sam. "Sarah, I'm sorry, could you give us a few minutes?"

Regaining her composure she said, "No. Not until you tell me what the hell that was back there."

"Fine, sit down and be quiet for a minute. Sam, shut the door." Dean replied.

Sam did what he was asked and turned back to Dean after saying a quick, "Hey, Sarah."

"Who the hell are you?" Dean asked sternly.

"I'm not sure I know." Sam replied.

"What the hell does that mean?"

"I'm Sam Wesson. I started here three weeks ago."

"Alright. You cornered me in the elevator talking about ghosts. And now…" Dean said throwing a weary glance at Sarah.

"Now what?" Sam asked.

Dean paused before saying, "Now nothing. I, uh… so you started working here three weeks ago, huh?"

Sam nodded noticing Sarah nod too.

"Yeah, me too." Dean said.

"Me three." Sarah added.

Dean half smiled at her and opened a sports bottle. He noticed the weird look Sam had towards the cloudy green drink and said, "It's the Master Cleanse. You tried it? Phenomenal. Detoxes you like nobody's business."

Sam then decides to switch gears and asked, "When you two were in that bathroom with Ian, did you see something?"

"I don't know what I saw." Dean said.

"I saw something." Sarah admitted.

"Wait. Are you saying that … did you see a ghost?" Sam asked.

"I was freaking out. The guy penciled his damn neck." Dean replied.

"You did, didn't you? Okay, listen. What if these suicides aren't suicides? I mean, what if they're something not natural?" Sam asked.

"That's interesting." Sarah said.

"So, what, ghosts are real? And they're responsible for all the dead bodies around here? Is that what you two are telling me?" Dean asked quickly.

"I know it sounds crazy. But yes. That's what I'm telling you." Sam said.

"Uh huh. Based on what?" Dean asked skeptically.

Dean and Sarah watched intently as Sam tried to find an answer. After a moment he answered, "Instinct."

Dean looked down at the floor and shook his head before looking back up and saying, "I've got the Same instinct."

"Um… me too." Sarah said softly as she tried to figure out what this might all mean.

"Seriously?" Sam asked looking at Sarah and then at Dean before saying, "You know those dreams I was telling you about? I was dreaming about ghosts."

"Yeah." Dean said looking at Sam a little weird.

"And then it turns out there's a real ghost." Sam continued.

"So you're telling me that your dreams are special visions and you're some kind of psychic?" Dean asked.

"No. I mean, that would be nuts." Sam said uncomfortably, "I'm just saying something weird is definitely going on around here, right? So I've been digging around a little." He then pulled out some papers from his bag. "I think I found a connection between the two guys." He gave the papers to Dean.

After scanning them, Dean said, "You broke into their email accounts?"

"I used some skills that I happen to have to satisfy my curiosity." Sam diverted.

"Nice." Dean affirmed.

Sarah just shook her head at them.

"Yeah. Okay. So it turns out Ian and Paul both got this Same email telling them to report to HR, room 1444." Sam explained.

"HR's on 7." Dean replied.

"Exactly." Sam said relieved.

"Should we go check this out?" Dean asked.

Sam's eyes widened, "Like right now?"

Dean quickly said, "No. No, it's getting late. You're right."

"I'm dying to check this out right now." Sam stated.

"Right?" Dean said excited.

"I'm ready. Let's go!" Sarah said jumping up.

"Whoa… whoa… hold on. How about Sam and I go check it out and you wait here." Dean said to Sarah.

"You can't leave me here! I'm part of this!" Sarah said walking to the door, "You ladies going to join me?"

The three of them approached room 1444 and heard a man yelling inside. They tried to open the door but found that it was locked. Sam quickly pushed Dean and Sarah away from the door and kicked it in.

"Whoa." Dean exclaimed, impressed.

They see that a shelf has fallen on top of a man and hurry over to lift it off of him.

The old man from before appeared behind Dean and flung him and Sarah into a wall. Then he shoved Sam over . His hands stared to spark. Dean jumped up to help.

"Dean!" Sarah yelled and threw a wrench up to him. As soon as Dean had the wrench he swung it through the old man making him disappear.

When the old man was gone Dean and Sam quickly picked the shelf up enough for Sarah to pull the trapped man out.

"How did you know how to do that?" Sam asked Dean.

"I have no idea. You know, Sarah?" Dean asked.

"No clue."

"Let's get out of here." Dean said walking back to the door.

"You okay Sarah?" Sam asked when they had reached the elevator.

Dean looked up and saw she was holding her right arm. He reached out and gently grabbed her arm to examine it.

"I'm fine." Sarah said giving Dean an odd look. "Just bumped it when I flew into the wall. I'll live."

Dean continued to massage her arm until they were off the elevator on his floor.

~At Dean's apartment~

Sarah and Sam were leaning on Dean's couch watching Dean pace in front of them.

"Holy crap!" Dean exclaimed.

"Yeah. I could use a beer." Sam said.

"Beer?" Sarah asked jumping up from her daze and knocking into Dean as he was passing her. Dean caught her before she fell but couldn't help from spilling his Master Cleanse all over her. "Oh! I'm sorry!"

Dean just stared at her for a moment in a daze, "Um… uh… I'll get you a towel." He said releasing her and walking down the hall.

"Do you have a washer?" Sarah asked startling Dean.

"Yeah…"

"Great! Could I wash this dress? I kinda need to return it tomorrow to your secretary and I don't think she'd appreciate it if it was stained and smelled of wheat grass." Sarah explained taking the towel he offered her.

"Why did you borrow her dress?" he asked confused as he noticed for the first time her change in clothes from earlier that day.

"Because my clothes were covered in blood. You're memory always this bad, D?"

"Yeah, well, washer's in there." Dean said pointing to the room across the hall.

"Um… do you have something to put on? Or do you want me to walk around in your towel?" Sarah said playfully.

"I… uh…" Dean stammered before walking over to his dresser and pulling out a pair of basketball shorts and a t-shirt. "Here," he said a little nervous.

"Thanks D!" Sarah said taking the clothes and starting to unbutton the front of the dress as she walked past him into the master bath room. She took her time cleaning herself off and after she put the dress in the washer, she rejoined the boys.

"Alright, so, what do we do now?" Sam asked Dean.

"We do what I do best, Sammy. Research." Dean said then looked up and saw Sarah walking in wearing his clothes. His breath caught as he drank in that sight.

"Okay. Did you just call me Sammy" Sam asked.

Dean snapped out of his gaze an said, "Did I?"

"I think you did. Yeah. Don't." Sam said causing Sarah to chuckle.

"Sorry." Dean apologized.

The spent the next few hours trying to figure out what to do next. Dean found a website that gave tips on how to take care of ghosts. They geared up, made a quick stop at Sarah's apartment, so she could get into more appropriate clothing. Then high-tailed it back to Sandover's.

"So all we have to do is find some of Sandover's DNA? Great. That sounds like finding a needle in a haystack?" Sarah mumbled as they got into the elevator.

"Set your cell phones to walkie-talkie in case we get separated." Dean said pulling out his phone.

"How the hell are we gonna find some ancient speck of DNA in a skyscraper?" Sam asked.

"Well, that creepy storeroom used to be Sandover's office, right?" Dean stated pressing the button for floor 14.

Once in the room they separated taking different places to search. Sam started searching the old desk, Dean and Sarah started searching behind the shelving unit. After a few minutes of searching Sarah was startled when she heard, "What the hell are you doing here?"

Dean quickly grabbed Sarah and pulled her down to the floor, so they were out of sight and motioned for her to be quiet. She stared at his lips, which were just a few inches from her own. His arm securely holding her next to him.

"Nothing. I just…" Sam tried explaining.

"Come with me." The guard demanded grabbing Sam's arm and leading him from the room.

Dean held her down until the door was closed again.

"Oh, thank God." Sarah exclaimed closing the distance and hugging Dean. He startled then slowly wrapped his arms around her awkwardly. She pushed back and saw his surprised expression. "Sorry." Sarah said getting up. "Let's keep looking."

After a moment, Dean stood up and walked over to the other side of the room and inspected the desk. "I think I've got something!" Dean said after a few minutes.

Sarah got to him as he pulled out his cellphone and buzzed Sam, "Hey. You okay?"

After a moment, Sam replied, "Call you back."

"He didn't sound good." Sarah said.

"Yeah. Well come on, let's get this ghost." Dean said moving to the door.

Out in the hall, Sam buzzed them. "Dean, Sarah, you there?"

"Yeah, listen, I think I got it. Meet me on twenty-two." Dean told Sam.

"Okay, yeah. Just take the stairs." Sam warned.

Eight flights later…

"Okay… I think I'm gonna keel over. Why the hell did we have to go up eight flights of stairs?" Sarah asked between breaths.

"I don't know." Dean muttered as they made their way to the memorial display. "But it was some good cardio."

Sarah just rolled her eyes at Dean then Sam joined them.

"Whoa. That's a lot of blood." Dean said seeing that Sam's head and shirt were covered in it.

"Oh my! Sam! Are you okay?" Sarah exclaimed walking over and inspecting Sam.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Sam said awkwardly.

"Right. So, uh, in there." Dean said with a little bit of attitude that Sarah was fussing over Sam. He pointed to a pair of old gloves in the display case.

"P.T. Sandover's gloves." Sam stated.

"Yeah, how much you wanna bet there's a little smidge of DNA in there? You know, like a fingernail clipping or a hair or two? Something." Dean asked.

"So you ready?" Sam asked.

"I have no idea." Dean answered then looked at Sarah.

"No clue." Sarah said then looked at Sam.

"Me either." Sam answered kneeling down and getting the fire pokers and salt out of the bag they brought from Dean's apartment. He handed Dean a fire poker and gave Sarah the salt.

"Go for it." Sam said to Dean.

"Right." Dean said before smashing the glass.

As soon as the glass was broken the temperature in the room dropped 50 degrees.

"Guys?" Sarah said noticing her own breath.

Sandover appeared behind Dean and flung him into the wall. Then he appeared behind Sam and flung him into the other wall. Sarah searched the room for Sandover but he appeared behind her and flung her into the display wall. And he did it all within a blink of an eye.

Sandover then approached Sam, his fingers sparkling.

"Sam!" Sarah yelled throwing the salt at Sandover causing him to disappear.

"Oh. Nice!" Dean yelled getting up.

Sandover appeared behind Dean.

"Dean!" Sam yelled throwing him a fire poker. Dean caught it and swung at the ghost. It disappeard instantly.

"Nice catch." Sam exclaimed.

"Right?" Dean asked excited.

Sam got up and Dean helped Sarah up. Sam grabbed the other fire poker. Dean and Sam then started swinging at the ghost every time it appeared. Sarah tried to get to the gloves but was thrown into another wall. Then the ghost took the boys by surprise and flung both of them into different walls. Dean landed down the small hallway.

The ghost appeared down by Dean, his fingers sparkling.

"Sam!" Sarah yelled grabbing the gloves and throwing them to him and his waiting lighter.

Moments later the ghost caught fire and burned into nothing. Sam dropped the burning gloves onto the floor.

"That was amazing!" Sam exclaimed.

"Right? Right?" Dean asked excitedly rejoining Sam and Sarah.

"This is great and all but could we maybe go somewhere that's not spinning?" Sarah said wearily.

Sarah was returning from the women's restroom after cleaning herself up and heard the boys talking. She wasn't sure but something told her not to enter the room. She just stood there listening to them.

"Remember those dreams I told you about with the ghosts?" Sam asked.

"Yeah?"

"I was fighting them."

"Okay." Dean said a little leery.

"With you. You and Sarah. We were these, like, hunters, and we were friends. More like family really. I mean, what if that's who we really are? You saw us back there. Working together. The ghost was scrambling brains. What if it scrambled ours?" Sam asked.

"That's insane."

"Is it? Think about it for just one second. What if we think this is our life, but it's not?"

"The ghost is dead and we're still standing. I mean, I'm sorry, but…"

"Look, all I know is this isn't who we're supposed to be." Sam said cutting Dean off.

"No. I'm Dean Smith, okay? Director of Sales and Marketing. I went to Stanford. My father's name is Bob, my mother's name is Ellen and my sister's name is Jo."

"When was the last time you talked to them? To any of them?" Sam asked aggressively.

"Okay, you're upset. You're upset, confused…"

"Yeah, cause, I only moved here 'cause I just broke up with my fiancée, Madison. But I called her number and I got a damn animal hospital!"

Sarah's eyes widened as she thought over the last few weeks. She had trying to call her parents but somehow got a cemetery instead. At the time she brushed it off, knowing that her parents have been known to change their number do to their hunting life style, but now…

"Okay. What are you saying? Are you trying to say that my family isn't real? Huh? That we've been injected with fake memories? Come on." Dean said skeptically.

"All I know is, I got this feeling in my gut. And I know. I know that deep down, you gotta be feeling it too. We're supposed to be something else. You're not just some corporate douchebag. This isn't you. I know you."

"Know me? You don't know me, pal. You should go." Dean stated.

Sam left, walking right past Sarah and not even noticing her. Sarah stood there a moment before walking into Dean's office.

"I'm sorry. I think I need to be alone right now. Could you go please?" Dean said using his executive voice and clearly upset.

Sarah just walked over to Dean and lead him to sit on the desk.

"Sarah, I'm really not in the mood for company." Dean said again.

"Oh, stop acting like a baby. I'm just going to take care of that nasty gash on your forehead." Sarah said looking through the first aid kit, Dean had out on his desk. She took an alcohol swab and started to clean the wound.

"Ow!" Dean growled, jerking away.

"Oh, you big baby. Come here." She said pulling his head closer and blowing on the wound. "Better?"

Dean just looked up at her. She grabbed some antibiotic gel and a bandage then applied them to the gash. When she was done she kissed it softly.

"There, all done." She told him backing away. He grabbed her and held her so she couldn't move away. He then closed the gap and kissed her. Releasing her arms he wrapped an arm around her waist and worked his other hand into her hair, holding her close as he could.

After a few intense minutes of kissing, Sarah pulled away.

"Wait a minute. Let's slow down here." She said trying to catch her breath. Dean looked as if he were lost in a trance. "I'm sorry. I should probably go now." Sarah said moving away from him.

"Wait. Did I do something to upset you? Did I go too far? I can dial it back." Dean said reaching for her.

"No. You were fine… I just… I just… I just need to go." Sarah said lost in thought.

"Why?"

"It's crazy. Everything is just so confusing and crazy."

"I agree. Hunting ghosts was never something I thought I'd be doing but…"

"Not just that, Dean."

"Then what?"

"Dean, I feel like I've known you most of my life. I knew I loved you from the very first time I saw you. I feel closer to you than anyone I've ever known. Don't you think that's a little weird? Especially since before tonight we've only spoken a handful of times."

Dean just looked at her and said, "Stranger things have happened, but I know that I feel the Same way." Then moved in to try and kiss her again.

Sarah moved away from him again. "Then how about this? Even though I feel this love and desire to be with you, I also feel this need to run away from you. Like I feel ashamed about something. I'm just so confused."

Dean walked over to her and caressed her face. "There is nothing to be ashamed of, Cakes. I understand how you feel. I somehow feel like I could tell you anything and you'd stand by me no matter what. But I also feel that I if I let you walk out that door, that I might never see you again and that just can't happen." Dean said pulling her into a hug. "How about we go back to my place and get some sleep. And I mean sleep. And see what we think tomorrow."

Sarah lifted her head from his shoulder and said, "Sure," through falling tears.

The next day, Dean escorted Sarah to the bakery she worked at, making her promise to come eat lunch with him after her rounds.

He was trying to get as much work as he could done before then, when his boss walked in.

"How are you feeling, Dean?" Mr. Adler asked.

"Uh. Great." Dean answered.

"You look a little tired. Been working, hard, I gather."

"Yeah."

"Ah, don't be modest. I hear everything. And I'm pleased with what I'm hearing." He said sitting in one of the chairs in front of Dean's desk. He grabbed a pen and piece of paper and started to write a number on it. "That's why it's important to me that you're happy." He passed Dean the paper. "How's that for a bonus?"

Dean looked at the paper then said, "That's very generous."

"Purely selfish. Wanna make sure you're not going anywhere."

"Wow. Are you sure?"

"Positive. You are Sandover material, son. Real go-getter. Carving your own way."

"Well, thanks. I try."

"I see big things in your future. Maybe even senior VP, Eastern Great Lakes Division. Don't get me wrong, you'll have to work for it. Seven days a week, lunch at your desk, but in eight to ten short years, that could be you."

Dean took off the headset he was wearing and said, "Well, uh, thank you. Thank you, sir. It's um… but…", as he thought of Sarah then he added, "I am giving my notice."

"This is a joke. You're kidding me, right?"

"No. I've – recently … very recently realized that I have some other work I have to do. It's, uh, very important to me."

"Other work? Another company?"

"No, I … it's hard to explain. Um. It's just that this- this is- it's not who I'm supposed to be." Dean explained. Mr. Adler started grinning. "What?" Dean asked.

"Dean, Dean, Dean. Finally." Adler said standing up and pressing two fingers to Deans forehead. Dean looked around at the office and what he was wearing, as if waking up from a dream.

"The hell? Why am I wearing a tie? My God, am I hungry." Dean growled.

Adler laughed. "Welcome back."

Dean stood up. "Wait. Did I – did I just get touched by… you're an angel, aren't you?"

"I'm Zachariah."

"Oh great. That's all I need is another one of you guys."

"I'm hardly another one, Dean. I'm Cas's superior. Believe me, I had no interest in popping down here into one of these smelly things." Zachariah said indicating his meat-suit. "But after the unfortunate situation with Uriel, I felt it necessary to pay a visit. Get my ducks in a row."

"I'm am not one of your ducks."

"Starting with your attitude."

"Oh, so what? This was all some sort of a lesson? Is that what you're telling me? Wow. Very creative."

"You should see my decoupage."

"Gross. No thank you. So, what? I'm just hallucinating all this? Is that it?"

"Not at all. Real place, real hunting. Just plucked you in the middle without the benefit of your memories."

"Just to shake things up? Hm? So you guys can have fun watching us run around like ass clowns in monkey suits?"

"To prove to you that the path you're on is truly in your blood. You're a hunter. Not because your dad made you, not because God called you back from hell, but because it is what you are. And you love it. You find your way to it in the dark every single time and you're miserable without it. Dean, let's be real here. You're good at this. You'll be successful. You will stop it."

"Stop what? The apocalypse, huh? Lucifer? What? Be specific, man. And what does Sarah have to do with all this? She's not mixed up in this mess."

"Sarah…" Zachariah said smirking, "Sarah's got her part to play in this. It's her destiny as well as yours. You'll do everything you're destined to do and she will do everything she's destined also. All of it. But I know, I know. You're not strong enough. You're scared. You got daddy issues. You can't do it. Right?"

"Angel or not, I will stab you in your face." Dean said angrily.

"All I'm saying is it's how you look at it. Most folks live and die without moving more than the dirt it takes to bury them. You get to change things." Dean turned away from Zachariah. "Save people, maybe even the world. All the while you drive a classic car and fornicate with women. This isn't a curse. It's a gift. So for God's sakes, Dean, quit whining about it. Look around. There are plenty of fates worse than yours. So are you with me? You wanna go steam yourself another latte? Or are you ready to stand up and be who you really are?"

Dean turned back around but Zachariah was gone.

Sarah was just about done with her food delivery route, saving the last stop for Dean.

"Excuse me, Mr. Adler." She said after knocking on his office door. "Would you like anything from the food cart today?"

He looked up from the paper he was reading and said, "Ah, Ms. Brown, come in, I was hoping to have a little chat with you." He motioned for her to come in. "And please, shut the door."

She did what she was asked, with a very nervous feeling building in her stomach.

"Please have a seat." Sarah sat down then waited for him to speak. "How are you today? You look a little tired." He asked.

"I … I'm fine." Sarah said slowly. "I just had a late night, last night."

"A late night with Dean Smith, right?" Mr. Adler said with a smirk.

Sarah shifted in her seat, "Um… What does that have to do with anything?"

"It just proves the point, that you will always end up with him." Mr. Adler said still smirking but walking around the desk and sitting on the seat next to Sarah.

"I'm sorry? I think you're confused, I only met Dean three weeks ago."

"But deep down it feels like you've known him much longer. Am I right?"

"I, uh, I think I should get back to my route." Sarah said standing up.

"Sit back down." Mr. Adler said. Sarah sat down unwillingly. Like some unseen force was making her. "We're not done."

"But I have food to deliver and … and… I don't want anyone to go hungry…" Sarah said trying to control how scared she was.

"I know Dean's the only one left on your route, but, trust me, he isn't there."

"What?"

"Oh, yeah, he up and quit about an hour ago. But don't worry you'll see him again."

"Alright, cut the crap, where is Dean. What have you done to him? Who are you?" Sarah snapped struggling against her hidden bonds.

Mr. Adler laughed then pressed two fingers to her forehead. Sarah looked around her surroundings with reawakened eyes. "Allow me to introduce myself." He said standing up, "My name is Zachariah and I am an angel of the Lord."

"An angel? You put me through this… what… this game?" Sarah sputtered.

"Oh, not a game, sweetie, but a lesson."

"A lesson in what?"

"Well for Dean it was for his attitude, but for you it was to show you your place."

"Oh yeah and where is that?" Sarah spat.

"Well with Dean of course."

"Ha! Very funny! I think you're a little late on that boat. I will not stay with him, not after…" Sarah retorted.

"After what? Oh, your little one? Well that was unfortunate. You see, you and Dean weren't supposed to have a child that early." Zachariah admitted causing Sarah's head to snap up and look at him. "Yes, very unfortunate what happened. You know that baby was actually a seal? Those demons didn't even realize it when they had you."

"What?"

"But let's focus on the future. Everyone has their parts to play in the apocalypse. Dean, Sam, and even you."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't lie. It's unbecoming. You know your place. Your destiny is with Dean. You've always known that. And this little example, shows that you find your way to him every time. No matter what. So do me a favor and stop fighting it."

Sarah stared at him for a moment then said very gruffly, "No."

"Come again?"

"I said, No. I won't do you a favor. I won't stay with Dean. You can take your destiny and shove it up your ass. Now. Let. Me. Go."

"Spunky. You definitely are very spunky. I like that in a human. Now with all seriousness…"

"With all seriousness, you either let me go or I swear I'll kick your ass straight back to where you came from." Sarah spat.

"Funny. Very funny, but I warn you, don't test my patience. I could smote you in a horrible agonizing death and then the next minute bring you back to life for another." Zachariah said getting angry, "So we do this one of two ways, you either go back to Dean on your own…"

"Or…"

"Or I make you."

"How?"

"Oh by making a few alterations right up here." He said pointing to her head, "Free will really is over rated."

Sarah's eyes widened. "You wouldn't."

"Oh, I would but to show how nice I am, I'll let you go and decide for yourself." He said then snapped his fingers releasing her restraints. "But, understand this, if you run, we will find you. And when we do, let's just say, you won't have a choice in anything that ever happens ever again. And if you thought what those demons did to you was painful, let me tell you it will be so much worse from me." He said, then slowly made a fist with his right hand. Sarah doubled over in pain, coughing up blood and falling to her knees. "This is your only warning." He said and then instantly he was gone and the pain she felt was receding.

"Sarah?!" Dean yelled through the door. He tried the handle but it was locked. He pounded on the window beside the door but she didn't move. Moving quickly he kicked the door in and ran over to her, falling to his knees. "Sarah? Look at me. Are you okay?" he asked placing both hands on her face and examining her.

"Dean? Is it you?" She asked before fainting into him.

"Dammit!" he growled picking her up and carrying her to the elevator.

Once inside she suddenly woke up. "Put me down." She said indignantly.

"Are you okay? What happened to you?" Dean asked as he put her down but kept a firm hold on her arm.

Sarah looked at it distastefully and said, "I'll live."

A few people got on at that point, so Dean and Sarah stayed quiet until they were downstairs looking for Sam.

"Where the hell is he? And what did that dick do with my baby?" Dean growled exasperated.

They looked up and down the street finally spotting Sam standing by the impala. Dean pulled Sarah over to Sam.

"Dude, what the hell happened?" Sam asked. "One minute I'm working a lousy tech job thinking I'm one person then the next I'm back to me."

"Angels." Dean stated opening the backdoor for Sarah. "Let's get out of here." He said getting in the front seat.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

One week later…

Sarah sat in the hotel room she was sharing with the boys trying to research the history of the comic book shop that Sam and Dean were investigating when they walked in.

"Hey." Dean said as he walked in. "You'll never guess what we found."

"What? Did you finish the case already?" Sarah asked tiredly.

Sam walked over to her and dumped a bag full of books out in front of her. "Nope. But we did find another case."

Sarah looked at the pile of books and said, "Ah, thanks for the thought but I don't read crappy romance novels."

"No. Look at them." Sam urged. Dean disappeared into the bathroom to change out of his FBI suit.

"Alright. This one's titled 'Home', um… 'Sam has a dream about his old home. The dream is so vivid he insists they go back to Kansas to check on the house. Once there, Sam, Dean and Sarah discover not one, but two spirits now inhabit the house, and one is intent on killing the new owner.' What the hell?"

"I know. They are all like that. Cases we've done."

"Where did these come from?"

"We don't know." Dean said rejoining them, "Let's all take some and see how much is in them."

Dean and Sarah grabbed some to look through, while Sam started researching online. After a while, Dean huffed, "This is freakin' insane. How's this guy know all this stuff?"

"You got me." Sam answered.

"Everything is in here. I mean everything. From the racist truck to… to me having sex. I'm full frontal in here." Dean said then got up and joined Sam at the table. "How come we haven't heard of them before?"

"They're pretty obscure. I mean, almost zero circulation. Uh, started in '05. The publisher put out a couple dozen before going bankrupt. And, uh, the last one – 'No Rest For the Wicked.' Ends with you going to hell." Sam said turning the laptop toward Dean.

"I reiterate. Freaking insane." Dean said browsing a website. "Check it out. There's actually fans. There's not many of them, but still. Did you read this?"

"Yeah."

"Although for fans, they sure do complain a lot. Listen to this – Simpatico says 'the demon story line is trite, clichéd, and overall craptastic.' Yeah, well, screw you, Simpatico. We lived it."

"Yeah. Well, keep on reading. It gets better. There are 'Sam girls' and 'Dean girls' and whoa there are even some 'Sarah fans' and even more 'anti-Sarah' people. Sorry Sarah. What is a 'slash' fan?" Dean asked.

"As in… Sam-slash-Dean.' Together." Sam explained with a disgusted look on his face.

"Like, together together?"

"Yeah."

"They do know we're brothers, right?" Dean asked just as disgusted.

"Doesn't seem to matter."

"I need to get some air." Sarah said jumping up from the bed she was laying on and hurrying out the door.

"Should we go after her?" Sam asked.

"I'll give her a little bit, then go find her." Dean said.

A little while later, Dean found Sarah sitting in a bar.

"So, what's going on?" Dean asked sitting across from her in the booth.

She stayed quiet and signaled to the bartender for another drink and waited for the waitress to deliver it.

"So, you ordered me some too?" Dean asked when he saw two drinks.

"Yeah."

"Is it that bad?" Dean asked about her mood.

"Well, let's just say, I now know the truth." Sarah said staring at her glass.

"What truth?"

Sarah placed one of the Supernatural books on the table and pushed it over to him.

"Is this the one where I go to hell?"

"Yep."

"And does it have… when we…"

"Yep."

Dean gulped down his drink and opened the book. "And… uh… what does it say that has you upset?"

"It says… It says…" Sarah started then yelled over to the bartender, "Could I get some Whiskey over here? Bring the bottle."

"Sarah, tell me." Dean said reaching to touch her hand. Sarah moved her hand back, out of his reach.

"It says that you had 'pity sex' with me. It says that you only looked for me because you felt bad and after you apologized, you were going to go see a girl named Lisa, one last time. I believe you liked her because she was the best you ever had." Sarah spat out, stopping when the waitress brought over the whiskey and two empty glasses. She quickly poured herself a double shot and downed it.

"Sarah…" Dean started, not knowing what to say, "I'm sorry. I don't know…"

"How about you tell me if that's true." She said taking another shot.

"Well, uh…"

"The truth, dammit!"

"Alright! Yes, it's true that I was planning on going somewhere else after seeing you. But that's only because I didn't ever think that we would… ya know. You left me so mad after the devils gate that I thought you'd never forgive me. But let me tell you, the time we had together was anything but pity."

Sarah sat quietly trying to process the new information.

"Now if you're done drinking. We have a lead on the publisher. Let's see if we can track down this Carver Edlund and get some answers from him." Dean said signaling the bartender to bring the check.

After getting Sarah some coffee, they ventured over to the publishers office for answers.

The publisher turned out to be a young woman who appeared a little nervous and somewhat skeptical of their intentions.

"So you published the "Supernatural" books?" Sam asked.

"Yep. Yeah. Gosh. These books... You know, they never really got the attention they deserved. All anybody wants to read anymore is that romance crap. You know – "Doctor Sexy, M.D."?" the publisher scoffed, "Please."

"Right. Well, we're hoping that our article can... shine a light on an underappreciated series." Sam lied.

"Yeah, yeah, because, you know, if we got a little bit of good press then m-maybe we could start publishing again." The publisher said hopefully.

"No, no, no, no. God, no." Dean said without thinking then tried saving the interview, "I mean, why – why would you want to do that? You know, it's, uh, such a complete series, what with Dean going to hell and all."

(getting very emotional)  
"Oh, my god! That was one of my favorite ones, because Dean was so... strong... and sad and brave. And Sam... I mean, the best parts are when they'd cry. You know, like in – In "Heart," when Sam had to kill Madison, the first woman since Jessica he really loved. And in "Home," when Dean had to call John and ask him for help." The publisher said emotionally. "Gosh... if only real men were so open and in touch with their feelings."

"Real men?" Dean asked, earning a light chuckle from Sarah.

"I mean, no offense. How often do you cry like that, hmm?" the publisher asked.

"More often than you'd think." Sarah mumbled.

"Well, right now, I'm crying on the inside." Dean said sarcastically and throwing a glare at Sarah.

"Is that supposed to be funny?" the publisher asked defensively.

"Lady, this whole thing is funny." Dean said without thinking.

"How do I know you two are legit, hmm?"

"Oh, trust me. We, uh... we're legit." Dean answered. Sarah inched closer to him, ready to step in if he messed up the interview any more.

"Well, I don't want any smart-ass article making fun of my boys." The publisher fired back.

"No! No, no, no. Never." Sam said stuttering.

"No, that's..." Dean started saying before Sarah grabbed his hand and squeezed it hard.

"We – We are actually, um... big fans." Sam said quickly.

"Hmm. You've read the books?" the publisher asked skeptically.

"Cover to cover." Dean answered.

"They're my favorite books." Sarah said as Dean squeezed her hand and not letting go.

"Um-hmm." Sam chimed in, diverting attention from Sarah and Dean.

"What's the year and model of the car?" the publisher asked.

"It's a 1967 Chevy Impala." Dean said proudly.

"What's May 2nd?" the publisher asked quickly.

"That's my – Uh... that's Sam's birthday." Sam answered.

"January 24th is Dean's. January 26th is Sarah's." Dean said smugly. Sarah looked up at him in surprise.

"Sam's score on the Lucifer SamAT?"

"One..." Sam struggled trying to remember, looking over at Dean, "Seventy-four?"

"Dean's favorite song?"

"It's a tie. Between Zep's "Ramble On" and" Dean answered with a smile.

"And Traveling Riverside Blues." Sarah finished for him.

"Okay. Okay. What do you want to know?" the publisher asked, much more willing to answer their questions.

"What's Carver Edlund's real name?" Sam asked.

"Oh, no. I – No. Sorry, I can't do that."

"We just want to talk to him. You know, get the 'Supernatural' story in his own words." Sam angled.

"He's very private. It's like Salinger."

"Please. Like I said – we are, um..." Sam said before unbuttoning the top of his shirt and revealing his demon protection tattoo, clearly uncomfortable. "... big... big fans."

The publisher stared at Sam's tattoo, awestruck before turning to Dean. Dean looked over at Sam, having a silent conversation with him. Sarah reached up and pulled his collar down enough to show the woman his tattoo. Dean looked down at Sarah upset. Sarah rolled her eyes and let go of Dean's shirt to lower her jeans a little to show her tattoo as well.

"Awesome. You know what?" the publisher said with a slight smile before turning around and hiking up her skirt to show her own tattoo. "I got one, too."

"Whoa. You are a fan." Dean said as he ogled her.

"Okay." The publisher said as she wrote on a piece of paper. "His name's Chuck Shurley. And he's a genius, so don't piss him off."

They thanked her and made their way over to Chuck Shurley's address.

After ringing the doorbell, Sam, Dean & Sarah waited impatiently for the door to open. A short man in a bathrobe opened the door and looked up at Dean & Sam uneasily.

"You Chuck Shurley?" Dean asked abruptly.

"The Chuck Shurley who wrote the 'Supernatural' books?" Sam asked.

"Maybe. Why?"

"I'm Dean. This is Sam and Sarah. The Dean, Sam and Sarah you've been writing about."

Chuck closed the door in their face. Dean rang the bell again and Chuck reluctantly opened the door again. "Look, uh... I appreciate your enthusiasm. Really, I do. It's, uh, it's always nice to hear from the fans. I'm impressed you actually found a girl to play Sarah. Most fans don't know any girls. But, uh, for your own good, I strongly suggest you get a life." He tried to shut the door, but Dean put out a hand to stop it.

"See, here's the thing. We have a life. You've been using it to write your books." Dean said sarcastically, shoving the door open and entering Chuck's house.

"Now, wait a minute. Now, this isn't funny." Chuck said nervously.

"Damn straight, it's not funny." Dean growled.

They spent a few minutes talking in circles with Chuck inside the house but weren't able to convince him of who they really were. So Dean grabbed Chuck and pulled him outside to the impala. Dean opened the trunk and displayed his arsenal.

"Are those real guns?" Chuck asked, shock etched on his face.

"Yup. This is real rock salt, these are real fake IDs." Dean heckled.

"Well, I got to hand it to you guys. You really are my number one fans." Chuck stuttered, still very nervous. "That's, that's awesome. So, I-I think I've got some posters in the house."

"Chuck, stop." Dean commanded.

"Please. Wait. Please, don't hurt me." Chuck pleaded.

"How much do you know? Do you know about the angels? Or Lilith breaking the seals?" Sam interrogated.

"Wait a minute. How do you know about that?" Chuck asked confused.  
"The question is how do you." Dean reiterated.

"Because I wrote it?" Chuck insisted.

"You kept writing?" Sam asked surprised.

"Yeah, even after the publisher went bankrupt, but those books never came out. Okay, wait a minute. This is some kind of joke, right? Did that – Did Phil put you up to this?" Chuck asked.

"Well, nice to meet you. I'm Dean Winchester, and this is my brother, Sam. And over there is Sarah Reynolds."

"The last names were never in the books. I never told anybody about that. I never even wrote that down." Chuck said shocked.

Once back inside Chuck poured himself a large glass of whisky and gulped it down. He turned around and saw Sam, Dean and Sarah and groaned.

"Oh! Oh, you're still there."

"Yup." Dean replied.

"You're not a hallucination."

"Nope." Dean said popping the 'p'.

"Well, there's only one explanation. Obviously I'm a god."

"You're not a god." Sam said flatly.

"How else do you explain it? I write things and then they come to life. Yeah, no, I'm definitely a god. A cruel, cruel, capricious god. The things I put you through – The physical beatings alone." Chuck rambled then looked up at Sarah with a grief filled expression, "Oh, Sarah, I'm so sorry… all the horrible things I've put you through…"

"Well, we're still in one piece." Dean cut in.

"I killed your father. I burned your mother alive. And then you had to go through the whole horrific deal again with Jessica."

"Chuck..." Sam mumbled.

"All for what? All for the sake of literary symmetry. I toyed with your lives, your emotions, for... entertainment." Chuck said not listening to anyone else.

"You didn't toy with us, Chuck, okay? You didn't create us." Dean interjected.

"Did you really have to live through the bugs?"

"Yeah." Dean stated. Sarah shivered at the memory.

"What about the ghost ship?"

"Yes, that too."

"I am so sorry. I mean, horror is one thing, but to be forced to live bad writing... if I would have known it was real, I would have done another pass."

"Chuck, you're not a god!" Dean yelled. Chuck snapped out of the daze he was in and looked at Dean.

"We think you're probably just psychic." Sam said in a soothing voice.

"No. If I were psychic, you think I'd be writing? Writing is hard." Chuck whined, freaking out again.

Sarah got up and walked into the messy kitchen and hunted around for a glass. She ended up rinsing out a semi-dirty one and filled it with whiskey. Returning to the room with the boys and placed the glass in front of Chuck as he said, "I wrote myself, at my house… confronted by my characters." She looked over at Dean and Sam and saw them staring in shock at the newly written Supernatural chapters.

-

They left Chuck's house and returned to their hotel room. Sam and Dean grabbed their laundry and headed for the Laundromat with a promise from Sarah that she'd meet them there after her shower.

Sarah tried to wash away the creepy feeling she had from this case. Meeting Chuck made this whole book thing more real and thinking that people had read some of her most private moments just felt so wrong.

After she finished with her shower, she got dressed in the only clean clothes she could find. Unfortunately it wasn't her most respectable attire. And something she hadn't worn in front of the boys, ever.

Walking into the Laundromat, she saw that the boys weren't there yet. She sent Sam a text.

'_Where r u?'_

'_Stopped for food. Be there soon._' He texted back a few minutes later.

She sighed and threw in her clothes in a couple of washing machines, including her jacket that was in desperate need of a good cleaning. After that she sat down and flipped through a magazine, waiting for the boys to join her.

A few minutes later, she heard the familiar sounds of the boys arguing.

"Dean, I still think we should be watching this guy." Sam said.

"I know. We'll go back when we're done here. Where's Sarah? I thought she was here already?" Dean asked looking around, walking right past her and not realizing it was her that he was checking out. Well not until his gaze reached her face. He walked over to her and snatched the magazine away.

"Hey boys." She said coolly then noticed Dean's pissed off expression, "What?"

"What are you wearing?" Dean asked.

"What? I ran out of clean clothes, hence being at the Laundromat. And what the hell is wrong with what I'm wearing?" Sarah said sarcastically before snagging back her magazine.

Dean glared and mumbled as he threw a load of his laundry in a washing machine, "Nothing unless your looking to make some dirty money."

"What was that?" Sarah snapped standing up and moving next to him.

"Nothing. Nothing. I said you look lovely." Dean said sarcastically then added in another mumble when she turned to start moving her clothes into a dryer. "For a street walker."

Sarah threw the wet clothes in her hands forcefully into the dryer before pulling out her wet jacket. She flung it out and hit him in the back of the head before pulling it on to hide her shirt.

He stiffened then slowly turned around and said, "Oh you will pay for that." Before he moved closer, he noticed that she was now wearing her sopping wet jacket.

"Alright chill out you two. Can't we go 5 minutes without you two getting in a fight?" Sam interjected. "Can we get back to the case?"

Dean sighed and sat on one of the counters, pulling the pages he had gotten from Chuck out and starting to read them. Sam and Sarah continued working on their laundry until Dean said, "I'm sitting in a laundromat reading about myself, sitting in a laundromat reading about myself. My head hurts." Dean whined.

"There's got to be something this guy isn't telling us." Sam said then turned to continue his task.

"Sam tossed his gigantic darks into the machine. He was starting to have doubts about Chuck, about whether he was telling the whole truth." Dean read aloud.

"Stop it." Sam said.

"'Stop it, Sam said.' Guess what you do next." Dean asked then looked up to see Sam glare at him. Sarah started to chuckle. "Sam turned his back on Dean, his face brooding and pensive.' I mean, I don't know how this guy is doing it. I can't see your face, but those are definitely your brooding and pensive shoulders." Sam sighed, exasperated. "You just thought I was a dick."

Sam turned around looking impressed. "The guy's good."

Sarah burst out laughing at the look on Dean's face, causing him to glare at her. "Shall we see what you are thinking, Fanny Hill?"

"Just give it a rest Dean." Sarah warned.

Dean started to read again, "'Just give it a rest, Dean.' Sarah warned Dean. She couldn't take much more of his sarcasm. He was making it harder for her to stay with them. Soon it wouldn't matter what ..." Sarah snatched the paper away from him. She then stormed out of the laundromat.

She walked around the town. Dodged the impala once and about an hour later, ended up back at Chuck's house, just as he was walking out the door.

"Hey Chuck." Sarah said trying not to startle him.

"Hmm.." he mumbled pulling himself out of his thoughts. "Oh. Hey." He noticed her rumpled and damp jacket.

"You, uh… got a minute to talk?" She asked.

"I'm going to the store." He said then sighed, knowing he wasn't going to shake her. "Come on."

The walked to the store in silence. She stayed quiet while he shopped for more liquor. When they left the store Chuck couldn't hold it in anymore. "Are you going to ask your questions?"

Sighing Sarah asked, "Is everything you wrote in the books exactly the way you saw them happen?"

"No." Chuck admitted. Sarah looked over at him, "I sometimes have to edit for the story."

"So, um…. the uh…"

"The night you and Dean were together, he truly didn't think that would happen. He honestly thought you hated him, but I can tell you that it was exactly what he wanted."

"What? To make me another one of his conquests?"

"No. To show you how much he loves you. At that moment, staring down death, he wouldn't allow himself to hid his true feelings."

"Really? Well what about…"

"Yes. He still loves you." Chuck replied cutting her off as they climbed the steps to his house.

"One more question." Sarah said stopping him from opening the door. "What Zachariah told me, about what he would do if I didn't stay with Dean… Would he really do that to me?"

Chuck sighed, "I don't know. I haven't seen that yet."

Sarah nodded, then added, "Do you happen to know what my role is in this whole destiny crap?"

Chuck just shook his head as he walk inside, only to find Dean sitting on the couch.

"Dean." Chuck said nonchalantly.

"I take it you knew I'd be here." Dean said not noticing Sarah.

"You look terrible."

"That's because I just got hit by a minivan Chuck." Dean growled.

"What?!" Sarah exclaimed walking into the room.

"Oh." Chuck replied.

"That it? Every damn thing you write about me comes true; that's all you have to say to me is 'oh'?!" Dean yelled at Chuck before turning his attention to Sarah, "And where the hell have you been Sarah?"

"Please don't yell at me." Chuck mumbled.

"Dean calm down." Sarah warned.

"Why do I get the feeling there's something you're not telling us?" Dean said angrily.

"What wouldn't I be telling you?"

"How you know what you know, for starters." Dean growled.

"Dean, come on. Relax." Sarah tried again. This time touching his arm.

"I don't know how I know, I just do!" Chuck cried.

"That's not good enough." Dean growled grabbing Chuck and throwing him against the wall. Sarah tried to pull Dean away. "How the hell are you doing this?"

"Dean, let him go!" someone commanded from across the room. "This man is to be protected."

Dean let Chuck go then asked, "Why?"

"He's a Prophet of the Lord." The stranger replied.

"Who the hell are you?" Sarah demanded.

"You… You're Cas… aren't you?" Chuck stammered.

"It's an honor to meet you, Chuck. I… admire your work." Cas said picking up a book and paging through it, before looking up at Sarah, curiously. Sarah moved a little more behind Dean trying to get away from the angels gaze.

"Whoa, whoa, what? This guy, a prophet? Come on, he's… he's practically a penthouse forum writer." Dean said skeptically. Then added to Chuck, "Did you know about this?"

Chuck stumbled into his arm chair and grabbed a nearby bottle of whiskey. "I, uh, I might have dreamt about it."

"And you didn't tell us?" Dean growled.

"It was too preposterous. Not to mention arrogant. I mean, writing yourself into the story is one thing, but as a prophet? That's like M. Night – level douchiness." Chuck admittedly gulping down more whiskey.

Dean looked over at Cas and said, "This is the guy who decides our fate?"

"He isn't deciding anything. He's a mouthpiece. A conduit for the inspired word." Cas explained.

"The word? The word of God? What, like the new new testament?" Dean asked.

"One day, these books – they'll be known as the Winchester gospel." Cas said.

"You got to be kidding me." Sarah, Dean & Chuck said in unison.

Chuck stood up, clutching his bottle and said, "If you all would please excuse me one minute." Then he disappeared upstairs.

"Him? Really?" Dean asked.

"You should've seen Luke." Cas interjected.

"Why'd he get tapped?" Dean asked.

"I don't know how prophets are chosen. The order comes from high up on the celestial chain of command."

"How high?" Dean asked.

"Very." Cas answered.

"Well, whatever. How do we get around this?" Dean asked.

"Around what?" Cas asked with a puzzled look on his face.

"The Sam – Lilith love connection. How do we stop it from happening?" Dean asked.

"What?!" Sarah exclaimed. Both men looked at her a moment. Sarah moved more behind Dean to get away from the angels gaze.

Cas returned his intense gaze back to Dean and stated, "What the prophet has written can't be unwritten. As he has seen it, so it shall come to pass."

Dean growled and stormed out of the room, leaving Cas staring at a very uncomfortable Sarah.

"You understand, right, Sarah?" Cas asked her.

"Uh, um… s… sure." Sarah stuttered as she inched away.

Cas's brow furrowed. "Why are you nervous?"

"I, uh…" Sarah managed before she bolted out the door. Running all the way to Dean as he waited for her.

"Whoa! What happened?" Dean asked grabbing her shoulders to steady her. She looked up at him and then fainted.

Dean managed to keep her from falling and set her gently on the ground with her back against the impala. "Sarah?" Dean said trying to wake her unsuccessfully.

He picked her up and placed her in the front seat of the impala then quickly ran back inside Chuck's house to see what happened.

After checking the house over and checking on Chuck, Dean couldn't find anything wrong. So he returned to the impala. Once inside the impala he looked down at Sarah sleeping on the seat next to him. He gently stroked some hair away from her face, seeing for the first time how much she had changed. He saw small scars on her neck and face. He saw the worry lines. He also saw that despite everything, she still looked so young and innocent. He stared for a moment longer before snapping back to reality and remembering that Sam was still in danger.

Sarah woke a little while later, looking around confused as to how she ended up in the impala at a different hotel than earlier. Looking around she spotted Dean at a soda machine across the parking lot. She started to get out of the impala when the angel from earlier appeared behind Dean. She watched, rooted to her seat, as Dean spoke angrily to the angel then after a minute he pushed past him, walking back toward the impala.

The angel stopped Dean and they spoke for a minute more before the angel disappeared and Dean walked hurriedly back to the impala.

"Sleeping Beauty's awake." Dean teased getting into the driver's seat.

"What's going on?" Sarah asked as Dean sped out of the parking lot.

"Why don't you tell me. You fainted after running out of Chuck's house. What's up with that? Since when do you faint at anything?"

"I, uh… I'm not sure. I just got spooked." Sarah said evading the truth. "Where are we going?"

"Back to Chucks. And don't change the subject. Why were you spooked?"

"I thought I saw something. But clearly it was just a trick of the mind. Nothing to worry about."

"Nothing to worry about? Sarah, I've seen you stand up to not only me and Sam but to my Dad and Bobby. I've seen you stand up to every monster we've encountered. And every demon. What could you possibly have seen that would terrify you like that?"

Sarah sat quietly, not wanting to answer. They pulled up to Chuck's house a moment later.

Dean turned to look at her and said, "Just stay here, I'll be back in a minute. And don't think this conversation is done. We'll finish it after this whole Lilith situation is over." He then got out of the impala and ran up to the house.

A minute later Dean returned with a very frightened Chuck. He placed Chuck in the passenger seat making Sarah move over to the middle, because the backseat still had broken glass on it. He then got into the driver's seat and took off like a bat out of hell causing Sarah to be pushed into him. She tried to move back to the middle but Dean placed his hand on her leg to keep her next to him.

After returning to the motel, Dean quickly shot out of the impala and ran to the passenger side.

"Wait! Wait! I changed my mind! I want to go back home!" Chuck yelled as Dean pulled him out of the impala.

Dean just ignored Chuck and dragged him to the motel door. He then kicked it open and dragged Chuck inside. Sarah scrambled after them.

They saw Sam on the bed with a thin blonde woman straddling him. They were fighting and she was about to stab Sam with the demon killing knife. The looked over at the three intruders.

"I am the prophet Chuck!" Chuck yelled.

"You've got to be joking." Lilith grumbled getting off Sam and approaching Chuck.

Dean stepped forward and said, "This is no joke." The room started to shake and tremble and a great white light poured through the windows as Dean continued, "See, Chuck here's got an archangel on his shoulder. You've got about 10 seconds before this room is full of wrath and you're a piece of charcoal. You sure you want to tangle with that?"

Lilith turned to look at Sam then smoked out of her meatsuit. The room returned to normal and they gathered their belongings and left the motel.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

A day later they pulled up to a motel a couple of states over from where they had met Chuck.

"Two rooms." Dean said, much to the surprise of Sarah, "With an adjourning door, please."

The clerk gave Dean two keys and Dean lead Sarah back out to the impala.

"Dean? Are you feeling well?" Sarah asked.

Dean ignored her question and grabbed both of their bags. "Here, Sam." Dean said handing over one of the keys. "You take one room and get rested. I think it's time for Sarah and I to have a talk."

"Okay." Sam said with a confused look on his face, then walked over to his room.

"Dean…" Sarah started as he led her to the other room.

"No excuses this time. Me and you are going to sit down and talk." Dean said setting their bags on one of the beds and looking over the rest of the room, memorizing everything.

"Fine but we're not having sex." Sarah said watching Deans head snap up. "That'll be a you know, end of the world, one of us dying sorta thing."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Alright, ha ha. That's not what I meant by talking."

"Okay." Sarah said sitting at the table. "Shoot."

Dean looked at her for a moment then, "That's it? No fight?"

"Just ask your damn questions, Dean."

Dean took the other seat at the table. "Alright. What happened to you at Chucks? Why did you freak out?"

"I already told you. I thought I saw something."

"Bull. You started acting weird before that."

"Like how?"

"Like after Cas got there, you were practically glued to my back." Dean retorted. Sarah looked down not wanting to say anything. "What? Is it Cas? Is it because he's an angel?" Sarah suddenly got up and started toward the bathroom. Dean quickly headed her off. "Tell me." Dean said holding her in front of him.

"Why?"

"Well for one, if you have a problem with angels, I kinda need to know. They have a tendency of popping up where you least expect them."

Sarah stared at Dean for a moment before sighing and saying, "I'll be fine. Their just new and powerful and not very nice. They kinda freak me out."

"Is that the truth?" Dean asked unbelievingly.

"Yeah. Are we done now?" Sarah asked trying to pull out of Dean's grasp.

"Tell me. Why did you decide to hunt with us again? Before that thing in Ohio you wanted nothing to do with us. With me. You even went so far to wish that you'd never met me. So why did you all of a sudden decide to stay? It's obvious that you don't want to be with me. So what is really keeping you here?" Dean said gripping her arms a little tighter.

"Let go of me." Sarah said trying to free her arms. She freed her right arm and swung at him. He deflected it not noticing her left leg gear up to kick. She kicked him in the shin and pushed him back enough to free her other arm. She then launched an angry attack on him. Tears of anger and frustration filling her eyes. He managed to deflect all of her punches and kicks, never once trying to retaliate. He waited for his opening to push her against the wall, holding her arms behind her back.

"Tell me."

"There's nothing to tell jackass! Get off of me!"

"No, not until you tell me the truth. Why are you with us?" Dean growled pushing harder on her. "Tell me or I tie your ass up and leave you." He added coldly.

"You wouldn't." She gasped both shocked and frightened.

"Try me. Now tell me why."

"Because…"

"Because of what?"

"Because I have to."

"Come on." Dean said not believing her.

"I have to or I will die."

"What?"

"There's… some things out there that want me dead. They won't attack while I'm with you two. I either stay with you or just wait for them to come."

"What? You didn't do a demon deal did you?" Dean said concerned.

"No. No demon deal. I just pissed off a lot of different things." Sarah said hoping her lie would work. She didn't want to think about what would happen if she told the truth and pissed off the angels.

"So none of this has anything to do with the angels?"

"What? Why would you think that?" Sarah asked, her voice wavering.

"Then why do you act all weird when their around?" Dean asked.

"How did you react the first few times you saw the angels? They are more powerful than demons, for goodness sake!"

"You're right. I'm sorry." Dean said letting out the breath he had been holding. "It's just been so weird lately. I'm sorry, cakes.' Dean said placing his forehead on hers. "What can I do to make it up to you?"

"Well you could… let me go…" She whispered.

Dean moved in to kiss her then backed away and released his grip on her arms. "I'm sorry." He mumbled and walked back to the bed with his bag. "There's something else I need to say." He said not turning around.

"What?" Sarah asked softly.

Dean continued to stand there a moment before sighing and saying, "I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?" Sarah asked confused.

Dean turned around to look at her. "I'm sorry about the baby." Sarah instantly looked away from him, trying to hide her pain. "I should have been there for you. I should have protected you."

"Dean. Don't." Sarah warned.

"I just want you to know that if things had worked out differently and the demons hadn't attacked you…" Dean said searching for the right words. "What, I'm trying to say is that I'd have been happy raising that kid with you." Sarah looked up at him again, surprised. Dean then grabbed his bag and walked to the adjourning door. "You can have this room. Get some rest." Then he left.

Sarah sat down on the edge of the closest bed and let the tears she had been holding back, fall. Suddenly there was a slow clap coming from the other side of the room. Sarah looked up to see Zachariah sitting at the table, smiling.

"That was a great performance, Sunshine. In another life you might have been a great actress." Zachariah chided.

"What are you doing here?"

"Just checking up on my investments. You did a good job talking Dean down. He really has a weakness for you." He said laughing.

"Well I'm here. I didn't run. What more do you want from me?" Sarah asked angrily.

"You watch your tone with me. I'm here because it's not enough for you to just travel with Sam and Dean. You have to show them that you want to be here."

"But I don't."

"I could fix that." He said coldly. "But I feel like being generous. I will give you one more chance. Show Dean you still care or I will be back."

And in a blink, he was gone.

-A few days later-

They had been traveling for days looking for a job. After almost 24 hours of almost continuous driving Dean parked the impala near a lake and the three of them spent the remainder of the night sleeping there.

The next morning, Sam woke up from his spot in the back seat and quietly exited the impala. He started to brush his teeth and saw Dean leaning against the door, with his legs stretched out on the seat. He also saw Sarah curled up next to Dean, her head resting on his chest with his arms wrapped around her protectively. Sam quickly took out his phone and snapped a picture of them, smiling to himself.

A moment later, Dean woke and tried to slip out from under Sarah without waking her. He ended up dumping himself on the ground outside the impala and waking her up. "Sorry." He said as she sat up disoriented.

"Hey. How'd you sleep?" Sam asked with a smirk.

"How do you think? I'm starving. Let's get breakfast." Dean said crankily.

"Where? We're like two hours from anything." Sam reasoned.

"But I'm hungry now." Dean whined.

"Geez, you sound like a two year old when you're hungry." Sarah stated joining them while trying to brush her hair.

Dean gave her a glare but Sam chuckled and said, "There's probably still a sandwich in the backseat."

Dean walked to the backseat door and reached in through the open window retrieving the bag. He opened it and sniffed, "It's tuna." He complained throwing it back in the car.

Just then they heard one of the phones start to ring. Dean leaned in through the open passenger window and opened the glove box. After rummaging around he located the ringing phone.

"Isn't that Dad's phone?" Sam asked.

Dean flipped open the phone, "Hello?"

"Uh, is this John?" the caller asked.

"He can't come to the phone. Can I help you?" Dean asked.

"No. No. No. – I really – I need to talk to John. This is Adam Milligan. He knows me."

"Well, sorry to be the one to break this to you, pal, but John died more than two years ago." Dean stated flatly. He heard a shocked sound. "Who is this?"

"I'm his son." Adam said.

Dean stared at Sam nearly dropping the phone. He managed to pull himself together to find where Adam was and set up a time to meet.

"Dean… Did he really just say…" Sam started to ask but Dean grunted, "Everyone in the car."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

A couple hours later they drove into a town called, Windom. The town they were meeting Adam in. Dean circled the block, checking out the restaurant they were to meet at. On the way back around, Dean pulled over a few blocks away.

"Okay, Sarah. You go scope it out. Sam and I will be there shortly." Dean instructed.

"Dean… Are you…" Sarah tried to ask.

"Get a good vantage point. Be ready for anything." Dean said cutting her off, staring out at the street.

Sighing, Sarah got out of the car and walked into the restaurant. Once inside she picked a booth in the corner, so she could see the whole place. The waitress came over.

"Hi. Welcome to Cousin Oliver's. Can I get you something to drink?" the waitress asked.

"I'll have the strongest coffee you've got. And, um… the special." Sarah said after glancing down at the menu.

The waitress smiled then walked over to the kitchen to put in her order before returning to Sarah with her coffee.

Sam and Dean walked in a few minutes later and sat down at a table in the opposite corner. She watched as Dean rudely dismissed the waitress, then set about changing the water in one of the glasses with what she suspected was holy water. He then changed the silverware with silver plated ones.

After another few minutes, Sarah had watched as both brothers grew more and more tense. Sam even waved John's journal around before putting it away.

"Sam, remember to breathe." Sarah texted him.

She saw Sam look at his phone before looking up at her smirking. He then said something to Dean that just made him more upset.

Just then a young man walked in, looking around.

"Adam?" Sam called out.

The young man looked over and walked to them. A few minutes later, Dean got up angrily and stormed out followed by Sam and Adam. Sarah quickly dug out some cash and threw it on the table. She ran outside, just in time to see both the impala and Adams truck drive away.

"Oh come on!" Sarah growled. She pulled her phone out of her pocket forcefully. So forcefully she dropped it, making it smash to pieces. "Dammit!"

Sarah walked up to the two story house, and rang the doorbell. A minute later, Adam opened the door.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"You could point me in the direction of Sam and Dean." Sarah said pushing past him.

"Wait… Who are you?"

"I bet the boys forgot to mention me. I'm Sarah, their friend… well sometimes… You know when they don't drive off without me. Now where are they?" Sarah demanded. Adam's eyes widened at her growing anger and pointed to the stairs. Sarah hurried up the stairs and walked into a room with a mattress thrown to the side.

"You boys missing something?" Sarah asked making the boys notice her.

"We tried calling." Dean said over his shoulder, still obviously upset.

"You see that would have worked if my phone hadn't smashed." Sarah said showing her broken phone to Sam. "Is it just me or do you not care that you left me behind?" she asked Dean.

"We're a little busy here, Sarah. One of us has to go into that duct and look around." Dean said then raised his fist looking to Sam. Sam sighed and raised his fist. Dean then looked to Sarah waiting for her to join.

"Oh no. You've got to be joking! I'm not going to get in there! No. I just had to walk five miles to get here!" They just stared at her not impressed. "Oh come on! I won't even fit in there!"

"Yeah, like Sam and I really fit either."

"You two might have broad shoulders but I have big boobs and a big butt."

Dean just looked her up and down before stating, "Quit whining."

Sarah rolled her eyes and held up her fist. Then the three of them played Rock, Paper, Scissors to choose who would crawl into the duct.

Sarah & Sam chose rock while Dean chose scissors. Sarah and Sam smirked as Dean waved his arms in frustration.

"Every time." Dean muttered.

Once Dean was in the duct and out of hearing distance, Sam approached Sarah.

"I'm sorry about the diner. All of this is just not sitting well with Dean." Sam said as he looked at the picture of John with Adam and his mom.

"I can see that." Sarah stated. "Thanks for apologizing." She added, smiling a little.

After Dean found parts of Adam's mother, the three of them left Adam to call the police. The went and got a room at a nearby motel. There the boys filled Sarah in on what had happened. That Adam was really their brother.

After that, Dean set about cleaning his guns on one of the beds and Sam sat researching on the other. Sarah sat next to Sam reading through a stack of books trying to find something useful. Making herself comfortable next to Sam, she laid her head on his shoulder.

Sam looked down at her then up to see Dean glaring at him. Just then someone knocked on the door. Sam shot up to answer it, knocking Sarah over.

Sam opened the door and Adam blew in saying, "Who the hell are you?"

"Adam, hey." Sam said trying to calm him down. Dean threw a cloth over his shot gun as Sam said, "Take it easy."

"No, don't tell me to take it easy, okay? My house is a crime scene, my mom's probably dead, and you three – well, you tell me to call the cops, but you got to bail before they show? So, who are you really?" Adam yelled. "Cops didn't know where to look for my mom, Dean, but you did. And I heard you talking earlier… something about grave robberies." Adam spotted the shot gun then added, "You're not mechanics. I just want to know what's going on." After no one answered Adam added, "Please."

"We're hunters." Sam stated.

"Sammy!" Dean growled.

"He deserves to know, Dean." Sam added.

"What do you mean, 'hunters'?" Adam asked.

Sarah decided it would be best to leave the brothers alone for a bit. So grabbing her research, she quietly headed outside to sit in the backseat of the impala.

A while later, Sarah heard Dean and Sam raise their voices then a moment later Dean stormed outside. He walked over to the impala and got in.

"Sarah, out." Dean grunted.

"No. I was here first." Sarah retorted.

"Leave. I need to be alone."

"Well you can be alone with me." Sarah said, reaching over the seat to turn on the radio.

Dean shut it off and growled, "Seriously. Get. Out."

"Make me," Sarah said back staring daggers at Dean through the rearview mirror.

Dean sighed and pulled out of the parking lot. After a few minutes of silence, Dean pulled over and just stared at the steering wheel.

Sarah watched as his knuckles turned white from the grip he had on the wheel. Slowly, she climbed over into the front seat and scooted next to him. She then began to pry his fingers off the steering wheel. Once they were free she held them both in her hands, placing small kisses on them.

"Dean… talk to me… what are you thinking?" Sarah asked as she moved one of her hands to rub his neck. He stayed quietly staring at the steering wheel. Sarah continued to rub his neck and placed a light kiss on his temple.

"Why?" Dean whispered.

"Why what?"

"Why did he have to keep this from me? Why did Adam get to have the normal life?"

"I don't think we'll ever fully know. But I bet you can figure out part of it."

Dean looked over at Sarah and nodded his head slowly before placing his forehead on hers. "I don't know what to do anymore." He admitted.

Sarah placed her hand under his chin and made him look up at her. "Yes you do. We will do what we always do. Save people. Hunt things. That's not changed." Then she kissed his forehead. "Now let's go hunt us a monster."

Sarah and Dean met with the Cemetery director after changing into their FBI clothes.

"This tomb was built in 1926. Four generations of the Millsap family were interred here." The Cemetery director said.

"They don't build 'em like this anymore." Dean said looking around.

"Tell me, Agents Nugent and Grange, have you thought about where you might like to spend eternity?"

Dean hesitated, staring off into space then said, "All the damn time."

They both looked around the tomb. "So, three bodies went missing. Any idea who did it?" Dean asked.

"Hooligans. Sick, deranged hooligans." The director said.

"Dean." Sarah said pointing at something that had spilled on the floor.

Dean touched it and smelled it then recoiled. "This isn't blood. What is it?"

"No, it's embalming fluid. Whoever committed this crime didn't just take the corpses. They opened them up." The director said.

Once done at the cemetery, the two traveled to the local bar and talked to the wife of the missing man. There they found out that John knew the missing man and had helped him discover the bodies about 20 years earlier.

Pulling back into the parking lot of the motel they saw Sam being dragged underneath Adam's truck. Dean quickly pulled to a stop and jumped out to help pull Sam to safety. Sarah joined them and it took all three of them to get Sam released from its hold.

As soon as Sam was out from under the truck Dean quickly picked up Sam's shotgun and fired at the intruder. Sarah then got up and hopped into the truck moving it enough to reveal an open man hole cover. Dean approached the manhole keeping his aim trained on the hole.

He saw blood on the edge then got up and walked back to the group.

"I winged it. Did you see anything?" Dean asked.

"I didn't get a good look." Sam admitted.

"What the hell is this thing?" Dean asked.

"Should we go after it?" Adam asked frightened.

"No. No. In that maze? That thing's long gone." Dean stated.

"Alright, so, we don't know what it is, but we do know who its going after. Joe Barton, Adam's mother." Sam said.

"Adam. It was under his truck, just waiting for him." Dean finished.

"It set a trap, and I walked right into it." Sam said very down.

"Sam…" Sarah said putting her hand on his shoulder reassuringly.

"Doesn't matter. You're right… there's a pattern. Jo Barton was a cop. I'm pretty sure he helped out Dad. So we've got him, Dad's girl, and his son." Dean summated.

"All the people Dad knew in town." Sam stated.

"At least we know why it's back." Dean added.

"It wants revenge." Adam stated.

The four of them traveled back to Adam's house.

"Grab your stuff. We'll hit the road." Dean declared. Adam headed upstairs.

"We shouldn't leave." Sam said sitting down on one of the kitchen chairs and propping his injured leg on up on another.

"Yeah, let's stay here, where the kid's mom got ganked. Good one." Dean retorted.

"I'm serious."

"No, Sam, we're gonna take the kid, we're gonna drop him off at Bobby's and then me, you and Sarah are gonna come back here and finish what Dad started." Dean said pissy.

Sam stopped trying to bandage his ankle and looked up at Dean, "How? We got no leads, no witnesses. We do have what this thing wants."

"Here," Sarah said softly taking the bandage from Sam and wrapping it for him.

"You want to use the kid as bait? That's why you want to stay here?" Dean asked skeptically.

"Maybe this thing will come back. We could train Adam… get him ready."

"He could die, Sam." Dean growled.

"We could all die, Dean. Even if we do kill this thing, there are tons of other freaks that want revenge, on Dad, on us. What if they find that kid instead and he's not ready?" Sam retorted.

"I'll do it. Whatever it takes. I'll do it. I want to do it." Adam said from the doorway. Dean glared at Sam.

The next night, Sam was going over the life of a hunter with Adam when Dean couldn't take anymore.

He pulled Sam to the side and had a very heated discussion with him. After a few minutes, Dean stormed out the back door. Sarah quickly grabbed her bag and ran after him.

"What's going on?" Sarah asked when she caught up to Dean.

"I can't sit there and watch that crap. I'm going to go find this thing." Dean stated before getting into the impala.

"So where to first?" Sarah asked getting in the passenger side.

"Cemetery." Dean said flatly.

Dean and Sarah entered the tomb and started looking around. After a few minutes of searching, Dean spotted a loose stone on the back wall.

"Check this out?" Dean said getting Sarah's attention.

"Was this loose earlier?" Sarah asked pointing the flashlight so Dean could see while moving it out of the way with a crowbar.

It revealed a tunnel.

"Alright, I'll go check this out. You keep an eye on things out here." Dean said before disappearing into the tunnel.

Sarah kept her eyes peeled on the tomb until she heard Dean.

"What?" She said into the tunnel and in that split second, with her back turned, she was hit in the head from behind. The last thing she heard was Dean yelling her name before a scraping sound and gunfire.

Sarah slowly regained consciousness and found that she was tied to a chair and she wasn't alone. She slowly started to work on her restraints and listened. She heard Sam cry out in pain then a woman speak.

"Thanks to your daddy, my brother and I grew up on our own. At least we had each other." She said.

"Like you and your brother. Inseparable." Adam said.

Sarah quickly chanced a look up to see who all was there. Adam and his mom or what looked like them, were talking over Sam, who was tied on top of a table.

"Actually, it was very hard to get you on your own." Kate said.

"Like you said, Sam, the only thing you can count on is family." Adam said.

"And for twenty years, we lived like rats." Kate said.

"Graveyard, after graveyard, all that stinking flesh." Adam said.

"Then we thought, 'hey, why not move up to fresher game'?" Kate said.

"And then we knew just were to start." Adam said digging a knife into Sam's arm, causing him to cry out. "Revenge, it's never over, is it, Sam?"

"First, it was John's cop friend, and then his slut, and then his son." Kate said pointing out each one.

"Then I called John, but the son of a bitch was already dead." Adam continued.

"So I guess you and Dean, will have to do instead. And for a bonus, we get another Winchester whore. Tell me is she just doing Dean or have you tapped that, too?" Kate asked laughing.

"You leave her out of this." Sam grunted.

Adam laughed then said to Kate, "Told you." Then to Sam he said, "Dean won't interrupt us this time. We're gonna feed on you nice and slow… Like we did with, Adam."

"Oh, and by the way, he really was your brother." Fake Kate admitted.

Sarah could hear Sam struggling. "You should know that." Kate added.

"He was still alive when we took our first bites." Adam said.

"And he was a screamer." Kate added.

They both started slicing Sam's arms open. Sarah worked harder on her restraints, almost freeing herself.

"Sam, the more you struggle, the faster you're gonna bleed out." Adam said. "So you might as well lie back and relax."

"You know I'm gonna have a little taste of her. See why these two keep her around." Kate said before slicing into Sarah's cheek and then licking up the blood.

"Hey!" Dean yelled striding into the room and shooting Adam. Sarah worked the rest of the restraints off her wrists.

"Dean, they're ghouls!" Sam yelled.

Dean paused then aimed at Kate. She moved to duck out of the way but Sarah jumped up and held Kate in place as Dean shot her head.

"Which means headshots." Dean said as Kate's body collapsed to the floor, revealing Sarah covered in blood and brain bits.

Adam blindsided Dean and they start to scuffle. Sarah moved to free Sam but the rope was tied too tight.

She and Sam watched as Dean got the upper hand and started bashing Adam's head in.

"Dean!" Sarah yelled along with Sam's faint cry.

Dean hurried over and cut the rope around Sam's right side and tossed the knife over to Sarah. Once Sam was free they helped him sit up. Sarah quickly grabbed some towels to stop the bleeding from the cuts on Sam's arms.

"Thank you." Sam managed to say.

"That's what family's for, right? Keep pressure on that." Dean teased leaving the room.

Dean returned a minute later with the med-kit. Sarah and Dean quickly went to work on stitching Sam's wounds, testing Sam endurance.

When Sam was done, Sarah started packing up the first-aid supplies.

"Hold on. Let me clean up your gash." Dean said to Sarah.

"What gash?" Sarah asked confused.

"The one gaping on your cheek. Come on, have a seat." Dean said sternly. "Can't have you bleeding all over my upholstery."

Sarah rolled her eyes and sat down in the chair next to Dean. He gave her a bottle of whiskey and she drank a quick gulp before Dean poured some on her wound.

"Ouch!" Sarah gasped.

"Oh quit being a baby." Dean teased, examining her wound. "Well, the good news is that this cut doesn't need stitches."

"And the bad news?" Sarah asked tentatively.

"The bad news is that I don't think we can save your… shirt."

"Oh! Dean! Don't scare me like that!" Sarah yelled exasperated then punched him in the shoulder playfully. "Ow!" she cried out.

"What?" Dean asked concerned.

"My shoulder. There's something… Oh! It hurts!" Sarah yelled.

"Okay. Okay. Calm down and don't move. Let me see what's wrong…" Dean said moving to see the back of her shoulder. "Oh… okay… well…"

"Spit it out, Dean!"

"There's a lot of blood. Hold on." Dean said before taking his pocket knife and cutting her shirt from collar to sleeve.

"Dean!"

"What? The shirts ruined anyways."

"A little warning would be nice." Sarah said using her left hand to hold what was left of her shirt. Dean quickly cleaned the deep cut she got in the tomb.

"Okay. It looks like you maybe got this when those freaks hit you in the tomb. I've got all the stone pieces out. Now I gotta sew it up. You ready for that?"

"Just do it." Sarah said starting to feel faint.

When Dean finished patching up Sarah's wound, he said, "Alright. That's done. How are you doing?"

He waited for a reply. "Sarah?" Moving to see her face, he saw her face was pale.

"Hey, hey… Sarah… Wake up!" He said shaking her.

"Hmm..?" She mumbled coming too.

"Thank God! You scared the crap out of me." Dean said then noticed her necklace that was no longer hidden by her shirt.

"What is that?" Dean asked reaching forward and grabbed the chain, bringing a large silver ring to view. Dean stared at his old ring. He didn't even notice Sarah's eye widen.

"Dean…" She said weakly. He snapped out of his gaze and dropped her necklace.

"I'll go get you a new shirt." He said quickly walking out of the room.

He returned a few minutes later with one of Kate's shirts and some juice. "Here, get changed and drink this. You lost a lot of blood." And then he was gone again.

She tried to work her half torn shirt off but was having trouble moving her injured shoulder much. "Ugh! Dammit!" She yelled out. "Could I get a little help?"

When nobody responded she carefully stood up to try and find one of the boys. They were both gone. She pulled out her new cellphone and dialed Dean's number.

"Where the hell did you two go?" She demanded.

"Sam and I had to take care of something before sunrise. We'll be back for you when we're done." Dean said flatly.

"Oh come on! You can't just leave me here. I can't even get this damn shirt changed.

"Yeah well. I gotta go."

"Is this about your ring?" Sarah asked only to hear him hang up. "Ahhh! That man can be such a jerk!"

It took her several minutes to get her shirt changed and used her old one to make a sling. And then she waited. About an hour and a half later the boys reappeared.

Sarah got into the impala, ignoring their questions about her sling. She didn't even ask where they were. She just pulled out her ear buds and drown them out with music.

A few hours later, Dean pulled up to a new motel and got them two rooms again.

"Two rooms?" Sarah asked.

"Yep." Dean said giving her a key.

"Fine. Then I don't have to deal with your dumbass till morning." She mumbled before walking into her room and slamming the door.

Dean strode over and used the spare key to reopen her door. He saw her sitting on the bed rubbing her head.

"Dean! Get out of my room! I just want to take a shower and get some sleep. I can't handle more from you right now."

"Sarah…" Dean started to say, softening some.

She just got up, pulled her necklace off as she walked over to him. She grabbed his hand and placed the necklace and ring in it before saying, "Here, now please leave."

Dean just looked at her, so she pushed him out of the room, locked the door and pushed a chair up against it.

Then she set about trying to take a shower.

She stood in the stream of hot water, trying to let the tension out of her sore muscles. Suddenly the shower curtain was thrown open.

"Why do you have this?" Dean asked hurriedly.

"Dean?!" Sarah yelled grabbing the shower curtain to cover herself. "How did you get in here?"

"What? Please. Where can't I break in. Now tell me why do you have this?"

"I kept it after you died. I wanted something to remember you by."

"So after I came back you never thought about giving it back?"

Sarah looked away before saying, "I was going to, but when you came back, everything was changed. I just wanted to remember things the way they were. My love for you. Our night."

"So it helped you to remember when you loved me?" Dean asked.

"Dean…"

"No I get it. I'll leave you alone." Dean said turning to leave.

"Dean!" Sarah cried out.

"What?" he grunted turning back toward her.

"I never stopped." She said softly.

"What was that?" Dean asked advancing on her.

"I never stopped loving you."

Dean closed the gap and claimed Sarah's lips. He kissed her with everything he was worth. Moaning she wrapped her arms around him, dropping the shower curtain barrier. Dean picked her up and held her against the wall, kissing her under the stream of water.

After finishing in the shower, Dean carried Sarah to one of the beds. There they peeled off the rest of Dean's clothes and spent the next few hours reconnecting with each other.

Sarah woke to the sound of ice cracking. Opening her eyes she saw Dean's sleeping face. She saw all the worry lines and scars from the long years as a hunter but beyond all that she saw peace. For the first time in such a long time, Dean Winchester was sleeping peacefully.

"He's just so dreamy. Isn't he?" Zachariah said startling Sarah, "Well, when he isn't spouting off."

Sarah sat up quickly, grabbing a hold of the blanket to keep herself covered.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"I just wanted to do this…"" He said smiling creepily before clapping.

Sarah looked at him confused then noticed that Dean hadn't moved with all the noise. "What?"

"I'm commending you for progressing ahead of schedule."

"What are you talking about?" Sarah asked baffled.

"You and Dean, of course. You know… reconnecting…" he said slowly with another creepy smile.

"Why is that relevant?"

He smiled wider, before snapping his fingers making her wake up for real.

"What? What's wrong?" Dean asked sitting up quickly, aiming his gun wildly around the room, looking for the cause of Sarah's yell.

When Dean had found no immediate danger he looked over at Sarah, who was sitting up in bed, topless and hyperventilating. Dean, after a quick glance at her chest, rushed to her side.

"Sarah, what's wrong?" He asked placing his hands on her cheeks and making her look up at him. "Cakes, breathe. Calm down. Calm down for me." As she focused on him, her breathing began to slow until it was back to a normal rate. "Good, baby, good. Are you feeling better?" he asked placing a kiss on her forehead.

"Yeah…"

"What happened?"

"Uh…" Sarah stammered, "Just a nightmare."

"Of what?"

She just looked down, not answering, trying to figure out what to say. She couldn't say an angel just crashed her mind. "Just a nightmare… Would you just hold me for a while?" She asked softly.

Dean laid back down on the bed and held Sarah until he fell back asleep. When she felt sure he was back in a deep sleep, she tried to slowly untangle herself from his arms. The she quietly made her way to the now destroyed bathroom and shut the door.

'What just happened?' she thought. 'Did I really just give in and do what those douche bag angels wanted me to do? How did that happen? I was only going to be friendly with him, how did things get out of hand so quickly?'

She spent the next bit of time picking up the bathroom and taking another shower. Re-emerging from the bathroom, she saw that Dean was still passed out on the bed but heard movement in Sam's room. It was a little after six, so she grabbed Dean's jacket after searching for her own and knocked on Sam's door.

"Hey." Sam said opening the door. "Is something wrong?"

"Uh… no… I just heard you were up and thought maybe you'd like to go grab some coffee with me."

Sam looked at her for a moment before saying, "Um… sure." He grabbed his jacket and joined her outside.

After walking for a few minutes in silence, Sam said, "Okay, spill. What's going on with you?"

"What do you mean?" Sarah asked innocently.

"Come on, I know you want to talk about something. You have that look. So what is it? Does this have anything to do with Dean?"

"Um…"

"Okay, so what is it? You two obviously spent the night together." Sam commented then added after seeing her surprised look, "The walls are kinda thin."

Sarah stared at the ground as she walked. "Yes, we did spend last night together, but we shouldn't have."

"Why? You two obviously love each other. And I think Dean might be ready to be with you. I know timings not that great but…"

"No. We can't be together." Sarah said as she walked into the diner. The stopped talking as the waitress too their to go order.

Once outside again, Sam asked, "Why? Why can't you be with Dean?"

"I just can't."

"No, you're gonna have to do better than that." Sam said stopping her.

"I can't really explain. They may be listening."

"What? Who?"

"Just… just promise me something." She said with tears in her eyes. Sam gave her a confused look. "Just promise me that you'll convince Dean to stop caring about me."

Sam gave her a puzzled expression. "No! That's ridiculous!" he said after realizing she was serious. "What's going on? You know as well as I know that you and Dean are pretty much destined for each other."

"I am destined for no man." Sarah said harshly.

"Sarah…"

"Just promise me."

"No. I can't do that."

"Fine. Then how about you promise to help me or I tell Dean your secret." She said trying to bluff it.

"What secret?" he said calling his bluff.

"The one that has to do with how your able to kill demons. The method that Ruby taught you."

"You're bluffing. You don't know anything."

"I don't?" She said innocently. "Then how about I take what I know to Dean and see."

Sam grabbed Sarah and pushed her against the wall angrily, holding her there.

"Looks like I struck a nerve." She said smirking.

Just then Dean walked outside and saw them. From Dean's angle it looked like Sam was about to kiss her. Sarah noticed him from the corner of eye and decided in that split moment to do something drastic. She closed the gap to Sam and kissed him.

"What's going on?" Dean asked.

Sam quickly pulled away from Sarah, giving her a pained look.

"Nothing." Sam said giving one last look to Sarah before backing away from her and returning to his room.

"Sarah, what was that?"

"You heard him, nothing." She said walking back to her room.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

They were back on the road not long after that. All of them refusing to talk. They spent the whole day barely talking and when they stopped for the night Dean looked at Sarah like she'd sprouted another head when she insisted on the three of them sharing a room.

And when he tried to get her alone to talk, she avoided him and pretended to sleep on the couch.

A couple of hours later, Dean woke Sarah and Sam after Cas appeared to him in a dream.

Well, what did he say, Dean? What was so important?" Sam asked as the three of them walked through a dark warehouse using their flashlights.

"If I knew, would I be here?" Dean retorted.

"Something doesn't feel right about this, guys." Sarah said pulling out her gun. They walked up a set of stairs and saw nothing but destruction.

"What the hell?" Dean asked.

"It looks like a bomb went off." Sam stated.

"More like a nuke." Sarah mumbled.

"There was a fight here." Dean said.

"Between who?" Sam asked as Deans flashlight beam landed on a symbol painted in blood on the wall.

"Check it out. Look familiar?" Dean asked Sam.

"Yeah, it does." Sam answered.

Sarah gave them a confused look, "What is it?"

"Anna used something like that to send the angels back to the cornfield." Dean explained.

"So, what? Cas was fighting angels?" Sarah asked. That peaked Sarah's interest.

"I don't know." Dean said searching around until he spotted something nearby in the rubble. "Cas? Cas. Hey, Cas?" He said while trying to rouse Cas.

"What's… What's… What's going on?"

"Just take it easy. Take it easy." Dean said.

"Oh. No!" Cas said.

"Cas, you okay?" Sam asked.

"Ugh, Cas. I'm not Cas. It's me." He said confused.

"Who's me?" Sam asked.

"Jimmy. My name's Jimmy." He said.

"Where the hell is Cas?" Dean asked.

Jimmy shook his head then said, "He's gone."

Dean looked over at Sam before ushering everyone outside and back to the motel.

Dean, Sam & Sarah all watched as Jimmy devoured the hamburger they had gotten him.

"You mind slowing down? You're gonna give me angina." Dean said with a disgusted look on his face.

"I'm hungry." Jimmy stated.

"When's the last time you ate?" Sam asked.

"I don't know. Months." Jimmy said before continuing to devour his food.

"I think I'm gonna be sick." Sarah muttered walking away from the men.

"What the hell happened back there? It looked like an angel battle royale." Sam asked.

"All I remember is a flash of light and I, uh… I woke up and I was just, you know, like me again."

"So what? Cas just ditched out of your meatsuit?" Dean questioned.

"I really don't know."

After finding out that Jimmy didn't have any useful information, Sam and Dean excused themselves to have a private chat outside. Once the boys were gone, Sarah asked Jimmy, "I know you don't remember much about being possessed, but I was wondering if you knew anything about angel sigils."

Jimmy sighed then said, "No. Cas was very protective of what I could see. It would be nice if I did know. I'd tattoo them everywhere to keep those jerks away."

"Okay." Sarah said a little defeated. "Just one more question. Do you know if they are watching us all the time?"

"No…" Jim answered with his brow pushed together in thought.

Sarah let out the breath she'd been holding, "Okay…"

"Wait, no… I'm mean not they aren't always watching." Jimmy said looking up at her.

Just then Dean and Sam walked back in.

"I'm sorry Jimmy, but you can't go home right now." Sam said.

Jimmy stood up angrily and yelled, "What the hell are you talking about, I can't go home?"

"There's a good chance you have a bulls-eye on your back." Dean answered.

"What? From who?"

"Demons."

"Come on, that's crazy. What do they want with me?"

"I don't know, information, maybe?" Dean said.

"I don't know anything."

"I know, but…" Dean said before Jimmy interrupted him.

"Look, I'm done, okay? With demons, angels, all of it. I just want to go home."

"We understand."

"I don't think you do understand. I've been shot and stabbed and healed, and my body has been dragged all over the Earth. By some miracle, I'm out, and I am done. I've given enough, okay?"

"Look, all we're saying is that until we figure this out, the safest place is with us." Sam said trying to calm Jimmy some.

"How long?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it." Sam answered evasively.

Jimmy shook his head then tried to move past Sam.

"Where are you going?" Dean asked stopping Jimmy.

"To see my wife and daughter, okay?"

"No, you're not. You're just going to put those people in danger." Sam said forcefully.

"So, what, now I'm a prisoner?"

"Harsh way to put it." Sam said back.

"Boys! Stop this now." Sarah said getting between Sam and Jimmy. "It's late. We'll discuss this in the morning. Now everyone find a bed." The three men stared at her. "Now!" She said forcefully.

Jimmy walked over to the bed that was closest to him and sat down in a huff.

Dean looked from Sarah to Sam. "So…" he said before looking at the other beds.

Sarah rolled her eyes and sat down on the bed Dean had been using earlier. "Sam you can use the cot. Dean and I can sleep here." Dean smirked at her, "You stay on your side, Dean."

"I'll keep watch." Sam suggested.

About an hour later, Sam woke up Sarah and Dean because Jimmy had escaped.

"Dean. Would you hurry up?" Sam said anxiously as he packed his bag. Dean laughed as he brushed his teeth. "Sorry, is this funny to you?" Sam asked frustrated.

"Mr. Big-bad-prison-guard, Jimmy McMook give you the slip? Yeah, it's pretty funny. What were you doing, anyway?" Dean said.

Sam sighed, "I was getting a coke."

"Was it a refreshing coke?" Dean teased.

"Can we just go, please?" Sam whined.

Sarah grabbed her bag and said, "I swear, you two act like two year olds sometimes."

A while later, Dean was driving down the road, Sam sitting quietly next to him. Sarah was sleeping in the backseat. Everything was quiet.

"Hey, guys." Anna said from the backseat.

"Whoa!" Dean yelled as he jerked the steering wheel causing the impala to swerve.

Sarah jumped up right, wide awake.

"Smooth." Anna said.

"You ever try calling?" Dean asked.

"I like the element of surprise."

Sarah sat confused trying to get as much space between her and the new person sitting next to her. She was about to ask who she was when Dean said, "Well, you look terrific," while checking her out in the rearview mirror.

"Um, yeah, not the most appropriate time, Dean. You let Jimmy get away?" Anna said, her gaze moving to Sarah then back to Dean.

"Talk to ginormo here." Dean said gesturing at Sam.

"Sam. You seem different." Anna said to Sam.

"Me? I don't know, heh. A haircut?" Sam said uncomfortably.

"That's not what I'm talking about." Anna replied giving Sam a meaningful look, only to have him look away. "So, what'd Jimmy tell you? He remember anything?"

"Why? What's going on?" Dean asked, sparing a glance at Sarah, who was glaring out the window.

"It's Cas. He got sent back home. Well, more like dragged back." Anna explained, following Dean's glance to Sarah.

"To heaven? That's not a good thing?" Dean asked returning his attention to the road.

"No. That's a very bad thing. Painfully, awfully bad. He must have seriously pissed someone off."

"Cas said he had something to tell me. Something important." Dean said.

"What?" Anna asked.

"I don't know."

"Does Jimmy know?" She asked.

"I don't think so."

"You don't think so? Whatever it is, it's huge. You gotta find out for sure." Anna said.

"That's why we're going after Jimmy." Sam chimed in.

"That's why you shouldn't have let him go in the first place. He's probably dead already." Anna said before disappearing.

A few minutes later, Dean asked Sarah, "You ok back there?"

"Never better…" Sarah said then mumbled, "Always fun meeting one of your conquests," before putting her ear buds in.

They pulled up to Jimmy's house a few hours later. Walking up to the door they could hear fighting. Dean grabbed Sarah's hand and signaled for Sam to go to the backdoor.

Once inside, Dean snuck up behind the man that was attacking Jimmy and cut his throat with the demon killing knife.

The demon woman moved to attack but Sam caught her with his psychic powers.

"Go. Get them out of here." Sam yelled at Dean & Sarah as he struggled to hold the demon with his powers.

"Go, go." Dean yelled.

Sarah grabbed Jimmy's daughter and rushed outside, followed by Dean & Jimmy. After a moment, Dean ran back inside to help Sam.

"Thank God." Jimmy said when the boys joined them at the impala.

"Where's your wife?" Dean asked Jimmy.

"Right here." Amelia said joining them.

"Let's go." Dean said as they all piled into the impala.

They traveled to a parking garage and found a car for Amelia & Claire to use. And then Dean, Sam, Sarah and Jimmy were on their way in the opposite direction.

Sarah & Jimmy fell asleep in the back seat only to be woken up a little later by a phone call from Jimmy's wife. Who was now possessed by a demon.

They saved Jimmy's wife and daughter from the demons with some last minute help from Cas. They also found out how Sam was increasing his powers. Demon blood.

Cas after re-possessing Jimmy's meatsuit made sure to inform Dean that he served heaven, not man and not Dean. Then he disappeared.

Dean, Sam & Sarah got Claire and Amelia to safety then set about on their own. It was a very awkward drive after Sam's secret was outed. Then Bobby called and told them to get to his house pronto.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

A couple hours later, they arrived at Bobby's.

"Bobby?" Dean yelled as they walked into Bobby's house.

"Down here." He called from the basement. So the three went downstairs to meet Bobby. "Well, thanks for shaking a tail."

"Yeah, you got it." Dean said as they walked to the panic room.

Sam opened the door to the panic room.

"Go on inside. I wanna show you something." Bobby said. Dean took ahold of Sarah's wrist and held her back as Sam stepped into the room.

"Alright. So, uh, what's the big demon problem?" Sam asked through the open doorway.

"You are. This is for your own good." Bobby said as he and Dean shut the door, locking Sam inside.

"Guys? Hey, hey. What?" Sam said anxiously before Bobby closed the window in the door. "This isn't funny. Guys! Hey! Guys!"

"Are you seriously going to keep him in there?" Sarah asked appalled.

"Yes." Dean said flatly.

"What? You're crazy! That's Sammy!" Sarah said moving toward the door.

Dean stepped in front of her, "You so much as breathe on that door and I will tie you to a chair. And trust me, you won't be able to slip my knots."

Sarah growled then spun around and walked upstairs.

A couple hours later, Sarah, Dean and Bobby were sitting in the living room. Sam was screaming downstairs.

"How long is this gonna go on?" Dean asked impatiently.

"Here, let me look it up in my demon – detox manual. Oh wait. No one ever wrote one. No telling how long it'll take. Hell, or if Sam will even live through it." Bobby said sarcastically.

"Well isn't that a nice thought." Sarah chided.

Just then Bobby's phone rang.

"Hello… Suck dirt and die, Rufus. You call me again, I'll kill you." Bobby said before hanging up.

"What's up with Rufus?" Dean asked.

"He knows." Bobby said vaguely. The phone rang again. "I'm busy, you son of a bitch. This better be important." Bobby said gruffly into the phone.

Sarah sat on the porch watching Dean yell for Cas. She watched as they talked, Dean growing more angry. The she saw something, she didn't think he would ever do. She saw him swear to serve the angels.

"You did it, didn't you?" Sarah said as he approached the porch. He just walked past her and into the house. Sarah followed. "You are such a fool, Dean Winchester. Such a damn fool."

"What's going on?" Bobby asked approaching them.

"Well, big, bad Dean here just signed up to play with the angels." Sarah said sarcastically.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but you willingly signed up to be the angels bitch?" Bobby asked. Dean just looked at him. "I'm sorry. You prefer sucker? After everything you said about them, now you trust them?"

"Come on, give me a little credit, Bobby. I've never trusted them less." Dean said to the surprise of Sarah. "I mean, they come on like shady politicians from planet vulcan."

"Then why in the hell…" Bobby started.

"Because what other option do I have? It's either trust the angels or let Sammy trust a demon."

"I see your point." Bobby said.

"Sounds like either way, we all get screwed." Sarah sighed.

"You hear that?" Dean asked.

They stopped and listened a moment before Bobby said, "Yeah, that's a little too much nothing."

They all hurried downstairs and looked in the window of the panic room. They saw Sam on the floor having a seizure.

"What if he's faking?" Dan asked.

"You really think he would?" Bobby asked back.

"No, he's too good for that." Sarah said.

"I think he'd do anything." Dean ignoring Sarah.

Sam suddenly flew up and slammed against the wall by an unseen force.

"That ain't faking." Bobby said as they threw open the door. Bobby and Dean grabbed Sam and pinned him to the floor. Dean & Bobby pinned his upper body and Sarah jumped on Sam's legs to keep them from kicking everywhere.

"We're gonna have to tie him down for his own safety. Dean? You with me? Dean! Before he has another fit." Bobby yelled.

"Yeah, yeah. Let's just get it over with." Dean growled.

A few hours later, after researching for hours, Bobby, Sarah & Dean fell asleep in the living room. Bobby was passed out on his desk. Sarah was curled up next to Dean on the couch with his arms around her. Sarah & Dean didn't notice Sam sneak out. Bobby, however, did. He tried to stop Sam from leaving but Sam got the better of him and knocked Bobby out.

Bobby woke a while later in the junkyard with a splitting headache, but he pushed through the pain and ran back inside to wake the others.

"Dean, Sarah. Wake up, Idjit's!" Bobby growled once in the living room.

Dean & Sarah jolted awake, pushing away from each other.

"What? What's wrong?" Dean asked.

"Sam's gone."

"What?" Sarah asked.

Dean gave a shocked look to Bobby then looked to Sarah, searching her face. "How?"

Sarah's eyes widened. "You think I let him out?"

"And I'm supposed to believe you didn't?" Dean said harshly. "Lately, I don't know what to believe in you."

Sarah smacked him then walked outside.

"Boy. You can be such an idiot sometimes. She was curled up with you when he escaped. Now if you're done being stupid, can we go see how your brother got loose?" Bobby scolded. They traveled downstairs and unlocked the panic room door.

"How the hell did he get out?" Dean asked.

"Maybe he had help. Room full of busted devil's traps." Bobby suggested.

"Demon's? Ruby."

"That'd be my guess."

"How did she even touch the door?"

"You think she's got the mojo?" Bobby asked.

"I didn't think so. I don't know, man."

"What difference does it make? How he got gone? Ain't as important as where he got gone to."

"Well, I'll tell you one thing. At this point I hope he's with Ruby."

"Why?"

"Cause killing her is the next thing on my to-do list." Dean growled.

"I thought you were on call for angel duty."

"I am on call. In my car, on my way to murder the bitch." Dean said walking way.

"One thing." Bobby said stopping Dean.

"What?" Dean asked turning around.

"Sam don't want to be found, which means he's gonna be dam near impossible to find."

"Yeah, we'll see."

Sarah ran out of the house, so furious. She didn't stop until she reached the town. She went to the diner and stewed there not wanting to return to Bobby's yet.

A few hours later, Sarah quietly walked back into Bobby's house and heard him talking on the phone.

"Cops found the Escalade in a ditch outside Elk river… A couple of hours. I pulled up a weather map, made some calls. There's a town not far from there, Cold Springs… Lighting up with demon signs… Hey listen… us finding Sam? It's gotta be about getting him back, not pushing him away… I know you're mad, Dean. I understand. You got a right to be, but I'm just saying. Be good to him anyway. You gotta get through to him."

Sarah grabbed the keys to one of Bobby's cars and ran outside. She drove like a bat out of hell trying to get to Sam and Dean. A horrible feeling in her stomach.

She spotted the impala in the parking lot of a hotel and raced in. After bribing the front desk clerk, she ran up to the honeymoon suite.

She walked in to see Sam throw Dean through a decorative wall. He fell the coffee table, smashing it to pieces. Sam then walked over and began choking Dean.

"Sam!" Sarah shouted running over to try and pull him off. "Sam stop it!"

Sam pushed Sarah back and removed his hands from Dean's throat before saying, "You don't know me. You never did. And you never will." He then started walking to the door.

Sarah moved over to help Dean sit up.

"You walk out that door, don't you ever come back." Dean spat out. Sam stopped at the door and turned to look at them then continued out the door.

"No!" Sarah cried out.

"Dean? Dean! You listen to a word I said?" Bobby asked Dean, who was staring out the window. Sarah was sitting on the couch, her head in her hands.

"Yeah, I heard you. I'm not calling him."

"Don't make me get my gun, boy."

Turning to face Bobby, Dean said, "We are damn near kickoff for Armageddon, don't you think we got bigger fish at the moment?"

"I know you're pissed. And I'm not making apologies for what he's done, but he's your…"

"Blood? He's my blood, is that what you were gonna say?" Dean snapped.

"He's your brother. And he's drowning." Bobby sighed.

"Bobby, I tried to help him, but… look what happened."

"So try again."

"It's too late."

"There's no such thing."

"No, dammit! No. I gotta face the facts. Sam never wanted part of this family. He hated this life. Ran away to Stanford the first chance he got. Now it's like déjà vu all over again." Dean said then took a seat. "Well, I am sick and tired of chasing him. Screw him, he can do what he wants."

"You don't mean that."

"Yes, I do, Bobby. Sam's gone. He's gone. I'm not even sure if he's still my brother anymore. If he ever was."

Sarah's head snapped up. Tears streaming down her face. Bobby turned and leaned on his desk then made a big, angry sweep, tossing books and papers to the ground. He then advanced on Dean.

"You stupid son of a bitch! Well, boo hoo, I am so sorry your feelings are hurt, princess! Are you under the impression that family's supposed to make you feel good? Make you an apple pie, maybe? They're supposed to make you miserable! That's why they're family!"

"I told him, you walk out that door, don't come back! And he walked out anyway! That was his choice!" Dean said back angrily.

"You sound like a whiny brat. No. You sound like your dad. Well, let me tell you something. Your dad was a coward."

"My dad was a lot of things, Bobby, but a coward?"

"He'd rather push Sam away than reach out to him. That don't strike me as brave. You are a better man than your daddy ever was. So you do both of us a favor. Don't be him."

"Alright. That's enough both of you!" Sarah yelled. Both men turned to look at her. "Bobby go cool off."

He grumbled something then walked out of the room.

"Dean…"

"Oh what? You want to lay into me too? Try to make me change my mind? Well it won't work so just save your breath." Dean spat.

"While I agree some with Bobby, There is something else I need to tell you." She said, her tone slow and soothing. Dean gave her an impatient look. "I just… You see… This battle is coming. Quickly. And…"

"Just spit it out, Sarah!"

"I don't think you should trust…" Sarah said, but Dean vanished from in front of her before she could finish. "Bobby!"

Dean poked around the room, looking at the angelic paintings on the walls. He turned and found a table full of beers and hamburgers.

"Hello, Dean. You're looking fit." Zachariah said.

"Well, how 'bout this? The suite life of Zach and Cas." Dean said chuckling. They stared at him blankly.  
"It's a... never mind. So, what is this? Where the hell am I?"

"Call it a green room. We're closing in on the grand finale, here. We want to keep you safe before show time. Try a burger. They're your favorite. From that seaside shack in Delaware. You were 11, I think." Zachariah said.

"I'm not hungry."

"No? How about Ginger from season 2 of 'Gilligan's Island'? You do have a thing for her, don't you?"

"Tempting. Weird."

"We'll throw in Mary Ann for free."

"No, no…"

"How about Sarah then?"

"Definitely, no. Me and her. We're done."

"What? And I thought you two would be together forever." Zachariah said then mumbled, "Will have to talk with her about that."

"What was that?" Dean asked.

"Oh nothing. How about Marilyn Monroe?"

"No. No… Let's... bail on the holodeck, okay? I want to know what the game plan is."

"Let us worry about that. We want you... focused, relaxed."

"Well, I'm about to be pissed and leaving, so start talking, Chuckles." Dean warned.

Zachariah sighed. "All the seals have fallen. Except one."

"That's an impressive score. That's... that's right up there with the Washington Generals."

"You think sarcasm's appropriate, do you? Considering... you started all this? But the final seal... it'll be different."

"Why?"

"Lilith has to break it. She's the only one who can. Tomorrow night - midnight."

"Where?" Dean asked.

"We're working on it."

"Well, work harder." Dean warned.

"We'll do our job. You just make sure you do yours."

"Yeah, and what is that, exactly? If I'm supposed to be the one that stops her, how? With the knife?"

"All in good time."

"Isn't now a good time?" Dean growled.

"Have faith." Zachariah replied.

"What? In you? Give me one good reason why I should."

Zachariah angrily got in Dean's face and said, "Because you swore your obedience. So obey."

Dean looks past him at Cas, who looks down guiltily.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Sarah and Bobby searched frantically in every book Bobby had. She tried calling both boys cell phones but it always went to voice mail.

"Ah!" Sarah yelled after trying Dean for the umpteenth time. "I can't take this!" She then got up from the couch and grabbed her bag.

"Where do you think you are going?" Bobby asked gruffly.

"To find some answers."

"How?"

"By asking the one person who might know what's going on."

Sarah pulled up to Chuck's house that night and without stopping walked in his front door. She walked in to see Dean & Cas with Chuck in the kitchen.

"But you guys aren't supposed to be there. You're not in this story." Chuck said.

"Yeah, well…" Cas started, then glanced at Dean, "We're making it up as we go."

The room began rumbling and a bright white light began to fill the room.

"Aw, man! Not again!" Chuck yelled.

"It's the archangel!" Cas yell. "I'll hold him off! I'll hold them all off! Just stop Sam!"

"Dean!" Sarah yelled as Cas touched Dean's forehead, transporting him away. "What is going on?"

"Sarah, you should not be here." Cas said as he turned to the light. Chuck stood by Cas's side. "We have to fight the angels."

Before she could do or say anything, she was flung against the wall and everything went black.

Sam and Dean slowly walked around Chucks trashed living room, taking in the damage. Suddenly Chuck appeared and hit Sam in the head with a plunger.

"Geez! Ow!" Sam yelled.

"Sam?" Chuck asked.

"Yeah!"

"Hey, Chuck." Dean said.

"So… you're okay?" Chuck asked.

"Uh…" they hear under a pile of debris. Dean quickly started to move things to reveal Sarah.

"Sarah?!" Dean said helping her sit up. "You okay?"

"Uh… Yeah… I'll live." She said as Dean helped her stand up. "What about you two?"

"Yeah, Sam… you okay?" Chuck asked.

"Well, my head hurts." Sam said confused.

"No, I mean… I mean, my… my last vision." Chuck stammered. "You went like, full on Vader. Your body temperature was one-fifty. Your heart rate was two hundred. Your eyes were black."

"Your eyes went black?" Dean asked still helping to keep Sarah standing.

"I didn't know." Sam said looking over his shoulder at Dean.

"Where's Cas?" Dean asked.

"He's dead. Or gone. The archangel smote the crap out of him. I'm sorry." Chuck said.

"You're sure? I mean, maybe he just vanished into the light or something. You remember anything Sarah?" Dean asked. She shook her head.

"Oh, no. He, like, exploded." Chuck said, "like a water balloon of chunky soup."

Sam took a closer look at Chuck and waved a hand at Chuck's ear. "You got a…"

"Uh… right here?" chuck asked waving a hand by his right ear. Sam indicated his other ear. Chuck touched his hair and pulled something out. "Is that a molar? Do I have a molar in my hair? This has been a really stressful day."

"Cas, you stupid bastard." Dean growled.

"Stupid? He was trying to help us." Sam defended.

"Yeah, exactly." Dean said.

"So, what now?" Sam asked.

"I don't know." Dean answered.

"How about a doctor? I think I broke some things." Sarah said still sounding a little out of it.

"Oh, crap." Chuck muttered frightened.

"What?" Sam asked.

"I can feel them." Chuck answered.

"Thought we'd find you here." Zachariah said behind them. They all turned around at his voice.

Dean pointed at Zachariah then said, "You just keep your distance, asshat."

"You're upset." Zachariah said nonchalantly.

"Yeah. A little. You sons of bitches jump-started judgment day!" Dean growled.

"Maybe we let it happen. We didn't start anything." Zachariah replied. "Right, Sammy?" he added, then winked at Sam. "You had a chance to stop your brother and you couldn't. So let's not quibble over who started what. Let's just say it was… all our faults and move on. 'Cause like it or not… it's Apocalypse Now. And we're back on the Same team."

"Is that so?" Dean asked.

"You want to kill the devil." Zachariah stated pointing to Dean then he said, "We want to kill the devil," while pointing to himself. "It's… synergy."

"And I'm just supposed to trust you?" Dean questioned. "Cram it with walnuts, ugly."

"This isn't a game, son." Zachariah said angrily. "Lucifer is powerful in ways that defy description. We need to strike now, hard and fast… before he finds his vessel."

"His vessel? Lucifer needs a meatsuit?" Sam asked.

"He is an angel. Them's the rules." Zachariah answered. "And when he touches down, we're talking Four horsemen, red oceans, fiery skies. The greatest hits. You can stop him, Dean, but you need our help."

"You listen to me, you two faced douche." Dean said holding Sarah closer. "After what you did, I don't want jack squat from you!"

"You listen to me, boy! You think you can rebel against us? As Lucifer did?" Zachariah said very angry. He then saw Dean's unused hand was bleeding, "You're bleeding."

"Oh, yeah… a little insurance policy in case you dicks showed up." Dean said cheekily before tossing Sarah at Sam, pulling a rolling door closer that had some sigils on it in blood. Then in that Same movement, he slapped his bloody palm on it and all the angels in the room vanished in a white light.

"Learned that from my friend Cas, you son of a bitch." Dean said.

"This sucks ass." Chuck complained.

"Um… Dean… we should get Sarah to a doctor." Sam said as he picked her up because she was now unconscious.

"Hey." Dean said as Sam walked in the motel room.

"Hey." Sam replied closing the door. He pulled something out of his pocket and tossed it to Dean. "Here, hex bags. No way the angels will find us with those. Demons, either, for that matter."

"Where'd you get it?" Dean asked examining it.

"I made it."

"How?" Dean asked still looking at the bag.

Sam hesitated long enough for Dean to look up at him. "I… I learned it from Ruby."

Dean put it down and approached Sam. "Speaking of, how you doing? Are you jonesing for another hit of bitch blood or what?"

"It's weird. Uh, tell you the truth, I'm fine. No shake, no fever. It's like whoever… put me on that plane, cleaned me right up."

"Supernatural methadone." Dean replied.

"Yeah, I guess… Dean…"

"Sam." Dean said flatly, turning away. "It's okay. You don't have to say anything."

"Well, that's good. Because what can I even say? 'I'm sorry?' 'I screwed up?' Doesn't really do it justice, you know? Look, there's nothing I can do or say that will ever make this right…"

"So why do you keep bringing it up?" Dean yelled. Sam sighed and Dean turned back around to look at Sam, "Look, all I'm saying is, why do we have to put this under a microscope? We made a mess. We clean it up. That's it." Sam nodded. "Alright, so say this is just any other hunt. You know? What do we do first?"

"We'd, uh, figure out where the thing is." Sam said.

"Alright, so we just got to find… the devil." Dean said looking over at Sarah's sleeping face.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Later on the next day, the three were trying to research their next move when a knock sounded on the door. Dean pulled out his gun as Sam answered it. A girl in her early twenties was standing there looking very excited and having trouble breathing.

"You okay lady?" Sam asked confused.

"Sam… is it really you?" the girl asked. Sam glances back to Dean but quickly turned his attention back to the girl as she started to touch his chest. "And you're so firm." She said very creepy.

Sarah tried to contain her laughter as Sam asked, "Um, do I know you?"

The girl pulled back but continued to stare at Sam bewildered. "No, but I know you. You're Sam Winchester. And you're…" She said looking past Sam at Dean, "not what I pictured." The she spotted Sarah and glared. "I'm Becky." She said pushing past Sam and into the room. "I read all about you all. And I've even written a few…" Becky said then glanced down giggling a little, "Anyway, Mr. Edlund told me where you were."

"Chuck?" Dean asked standing up. Sam closed the door.

"He's got a message, but he's being watched. Angels. Nice change-up to the mythology, by the way. The demon stuff was getting a little old."

"Right. Just, um… what's the message?" Sam asked uncomfortably.

"He had a vision. 'The Michael sword is on earth. The angels lost it.' " She said.

"The Michael sword?" Dean asked.

"Becky, does he know where it is?" Sam asked.

"In a castle, on a hill made of forty two dogs." Becky recited.

"Are… you sure you got that right?" Sam asked trying not to upset her.

"It doesn't make sense, but that's what he said." Becky explained then took a step closer to Sam and said, "I memorized every word." She then placed her hand on Sam's chest again before adding, "For you."

Sam glanced over at Dean then down at Becky awkwardly before saying, "Um… Becky… c… uh, can you… quit touching me?"

"No." She replied simply with her eyes closed, still caressing his chest.

Sarah looked at the face Becky was making and decided to intervene. Standing up, she limped over to Becky and grabbed her arm.

"Okay… well thanks for the info but we have a lot of work to do." Sarah said opening the door and pushing Becky out. Once the door was closed she turned around and two stunned and slightly amused faces. "What?"

Dean started to chuckle. "A little jealous, are we?"

"What is it they say at your strip clubs? You can look but not touch. Well nobody fondles my boys." Sarah explained.

"Oh really?" Dean quipped.

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Okay. What would you do if that were a fan boy instead of a fan girl. And he came in and started touching me like that?... hm?...Tell me, Sam, would you have been as nice as I was?" She asked moving her attention to Sam.

He just sort of nodded his head, awkwardly. "Yeah, I probably would've decked him." Then he smirked, "Thanks, though. That was just…"

"Creepy! She was just so creepy! She looked like she was about to… let's just say explode… with excitement." She added chuckling.

A little while later, another knock sounded at the door.

"Hey, Bobby." Dean said answering the door and giving Bobby a hug.

"Good to see you boys in one piece." Bobby said giving Sam a hug also. Then he moved to Sarah and said, "Hey there little lady," as he hugged her too.

"You weren't followed, were you?" Dean asked.

"You mean by angels, demons, or Sam's new super fan?" Bobby asked.

"You heard." Sam said laughing.

"I heard, Romeo. So… sword of Michael, huh?"

"You think we're talking about the actual sword for the actual archangel?" Dean asked.

"You better friggin' hope so." Bobby said opening a book to show a painting of Michael surrounded by angels. "That's Michael. Toughest son of a bitch they got."

"You kidding me? Tough? That guy looks like Cate Blanchet." Dean scoffed.

"Well, I wouldn't want to meet him in a dark alley, believe me. He commands the heavenly host. During the last big dust-up upstairs, he's the one who booted Lucifer's ass to the basement. Did it with that sword." Bobby explained. "So if we find it…"

"We can kick the devil's ass all over again. All right. So, where do we start?" Sam asked.

"Divvy up and start reading, try and make sense of Chuck's nonsense." Bobby said.

Sam moved to a pile of old books but stopped short and just stared at them.

"Kid you alright?" Bobby asked.

Sam turned to face Bobby, "No, actually, Bobby, this is all my fault. I'm sorry."

"Sam…" Dean warned.

"Lilith didn't break the final seal. Lilith was the final seal." Sam continued.

"Sam, stop it." Dean growled.

"I killed her, and I set Lucifer free." Sam admitted.

"You what?" Bobby exclaimed.

"You guys warned me about Ruby, the demon blood, but I didn't listen. I brought this on." Sam finished.

Dean stared at the ground as Bobby stood up and walked closer to Sam then said, "You're damn right you didn't listen. You were reckless and selfish and arrogant."

"I'm sorry." Sam said.

"Oh, yeah? You're sorry you started Armageddon? This kind of thing don't get forgiven, boy. If, by some miracle, we pull this off… I want you to lose my number. You understand me?" Bobby growled.

"Bobby!" Sarah exclaimed, shocked.

Sam just nodded, as if this was what he expected to hear. "There's an old church nearby. Maybe I'll go read some of the lore books there."

"Yeah. You do that." Bobby said angrily.

Sam turned and walked out the door.

"I can't believe you." Sarah said shocked. "Either of you." Then she limped her way out the door to find Sam.

"Sam, wait up!" Sarah called after Sam as she limped after him. Her body still sore from the archangel fight.

Sam stopped and looked back in surprise, then he said sadly, "Sarah, you should stay with Dean and Bobby."

"Why? Am I not safe with you?" She asked innocently.

He looked at her uncomfortably. "Uh… Well…"

"Answer me this, are you drunk?" She asked.

"No," he answered confused.

"Are you high on demon blood?" she asked.

"No…"

"Are you mad at me?"

"No." he said slightly amused.

"Then…" she said hooking her arm in his, "I see no reason for me not to join you." Then she smiled at him and pulled him down a little so she could kiss his cheek. "So, shall we go do some research?"

He gave her another stunned expression, then started to lead her toward the church. After a minute of them walking quietly, Sarah could tell that Sam had a question on his mind. "You wanna ask that question Sam? Or are you waiting for a special time?"

"Well, I was just wondering…"

"Why I'm not disowning you?" She finished for him.

"Yeah." He said sheepishly.

"I don't know, but I had a lot of time to think the last few days. Ever since the angels took Dean actually. I drove to Chucks house that day with so many scenarios running through my head. None of them good. Most of them ending with never seeing you and Dean again. And that… that I just couldn't live with. So now…even though we are facing the apocalypse, I am happy we are alive and together."

"So all your anger about what happened last year is gone? I'm sorry but I kinda find that a little hard to believe." Sam said warily.

"It's not gone, Sam. I don't think it will ever be gone. I just know where to place that anger now."

"And where's that?"

"On the demons who took my baby and the angels who tried to take my freedom." Sarah said passionately.

Sam stopped and turned to Sarah. "What?"

Sarah slowly made eye contact with Sam. "Yeah… I was going to tell you now that we have the hex bags to hide from the angels but I just didn't want to add to all the frustrations."

"Sarah, if you wait till there are no frustrations then you're going to be waiting forever." He said pulling her over to a bench. "Tell me."

"It started during the Sandover situation. When they gave me back my memories, I was told I would either play my part or they would take away my free will and make me." Sarah said tears filling her eyes.

"Take away your free will?"

"Yeah. But first he said that they were going to show me real torture. He said what I went through with the demons would feel like a party. Then he just twisted his hand a little and it felt like my insides were going to burst."

"Did he say what your part was?"

"To be with Dean. He said that was my destiny and that I will find my way to him every time."

"Well, that's true."

"He also said that Dean and I conceived baby too soon. That my baby's death was actually a seal." She said letting the tears fall.

"Oh, Sarah." Sam said wrapping his arm around her and holding her close. "Is that why you pulled away from Dean so much? I mean at one point you two reconciled, right? But then you pulled away again. Is that why you kissed me?"

"Yeah, sorry about that but, it's a little disconcerting to wake up after… reconciling… to find an angel in your room. He was there to tell me what great progress I was making with Dean." She said in an angry daze. "You know, I'm pretty sure they were trying to cause a bigger rift between you two with me. Little do they realize, Dean would choose you 100% of the time over anything. Including me."

"That's not true, Sarah. Dean would choose you, if he couldn't figure out a way of saving both of us." Sam said trying to confront her.

"Yeah. Sure." Sarah said unbelievingly.

They were quiet a few moments before Sam asked, "So what does this mean for you and Dean now?"

"I don't know. I want it to get back to the way things used to be. We were just friends once, maybe we could try that again."

"So no intimate relationship."

"You know what? I think we've talked about me plenty. What about you?" Sarah asked changing the subject.

"What about me?" Sam asked awkwardly.

"Anything you want to say? While we're sharing and all?" Sarah asked and added when she saw his hesitation. "Alright, well, I'll listen whenever you're ready. Okay?" She looked up at Sam and he nodded. "Ok. Enough of this feelings crap. Let's go do some research."

The continued their walk to the church and spent the next two hours going through as many of the old books as they could before they had to leave.

"You know what? I think I'll go get us some pizza and beer. Tell them I won't be long." Sarah instructed Sam when they were halfway back to the motel.

"I'll go with you." Sam said.

"No. It's okay, I know you want to see if they found anything. I'll be fine."

"But what about your injuries? You really think you can manage to carry it all?"

"You saying I can't handle a simple task of getting dinner?" Sarah asked letting her attitude show. Sam opened his mouth to say something but Sarah cut him off, "Don't worry about me, okay? Now run along." Then she turned and hobbled across the street towards the pizza shop.

"The end of the world is coming!" a man wearing a sign was saying as people walked passed.

"You have no idea." Sarah said as she passed him and into the pizza shop. Once back outside she continued her journey to get some beer when she was pulled into an alley.

"Oh. You picked the wrong girl to grab buddy." Sarah said before she used some defensive moves to free herself from her attackers grasp. Facing him she saw that he was wearing a suit. "Oh no!" She cried as another grabbed her arm. The next thing she saw was a white room. Totally white and she was strapped to the wall. "Stupid angels!"

"Now is that any way to greet us?" Zachariah asked walking into view.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Sam shook his head at how crazy Sarah could be and chuckled. She was acting a little more like her old self. He was still smirking when he entered the motel room, but quickly faded as he saw Bobby on the floor bleeding and Dean being pulverized.

"No!" he yelled.

"Heya, Sammy. You miss me? 'Cause I sure missed you." A brunette woman said.

"Meg?" Sam questioned.

She grinned. Sam swung his fist at her but missed. Meg kicked him in the crotch and knocked him down. Dean managed to kick the feet of the demon that was beating him and grabbed the demon killing knife from Bobby's stomach before stabbing the demon. He then stood up and advanced on Meg. She backed up and smoked out of her meatsuit.

Dean and Sam rushed over to Bobby and carried him out to the impala.

"What do you want, Zachariah?" Sarah asked trying to control her emotions.

"Well, I was going to ask you where Sam and Dean are… but I have a feeling you would not tell me."

"You got that right."

"But it's a good thing, I don't need that anymore."

"Why?" Sarah asked warily.

"Oh because they are now coming to me." He said with a proud smile.

"What? No! They wouldn't."

"Oh I wouldn't worry about them yet. I'd worry more about yourself."

"Why's that?"

"Well, I now have time to… for lack of a better word… kill." He said with a laugh.

"But… you need me…"

"That's true, I do need you alive." He said appearing to think something over. "Do you really need all of your limbs though?" he said with a menacing look in his eyes.

"Need some help here!" Dean yelled as he and Sam carried Bobby into the E.R.

"What happened?" a nurse asked.

"He was stabbed." Sam answered.

"Can we get a gurney?" the nurse called out.

"Hang on, Bobby. Hang in there. You're gonna be okay." Dean said as he laid Bobby on the gurney. Bobby was then whisked away. The boys moved to follow when a nurse stopped them.

"Just wait here." She said.

"We can't just leave him." Sam told her.

"Just don't move. I've got questions." She told them before walking away.

"Sammy, we got to go." Dean said pulling Sam back toward the door.

"No. No way, Dean."

"The demons heard where the sword is. We got to get it before they do, if we're not too late already. Come on!" Dean pushed.

"What about Sarah? Are we just going to leave her too?" Sam asked.

"I don't know. Just text her to go to the hospital to watch over Bobby. We don't have time to go get her.

Zachariah walked over and moved Sarah's bloody face up to inspect it. "How's it feeling there tiger? Ready to cry out for mercy?"

Sarah spat in his face. He responded by smacking her hard across the face.

"Fine. Stay silent. I'll just have to turn it up a notch." Zachariah said walking away but not before twisting her insides up in an almost blinding pain.

When the pain lessened, she choked out some blood and said, "I've paid my dues. Time after time." Then choke up more blood.

"What was that?" Zachariah asked turning around to face her.

"I've done my sentence, but committed no crime." She continued.

Zachariah cocked his head to the side, "Come again?"

"And bad mistakes, I've made a few."

"Stop it." Zachariah said catching on.

"I've had my share of sand kicked in my face, but I've come through."

"Stop it or I'll…"

"We are the champions, my friends." She continued even when the pain rushed back. "And we'll keep on fighting, till the end."

"I said stop!"

"No time for losers. Cause we are the champions, of the world." She finished as he increased the pain enough to make her black out.

Dean opened the trunk and started loading guns with Sam, before approaching a storage unit. He unlocked the door while Sam stood watch. They entered the unit, shot guns ready, only to find a couple of dead demons sprawled across the floor.

"I see you told the demons where the sword is." Zachariah said from behind them with two other angels.

"And to think… they could have grabbed it any time they wanted." Zachariah said as he waved a hand to close the door. "It was right in front of them."

"What do you mean?" Sam asked.

"We may have planted that particular piece of prophecy inside Chuck's skull, but it happened to be true. We did lose the Michael sword. We truly couldn't find it. Until now. You've just hand delivered it to us." Zachariah explained.

"We don't have anything." Dean said.

"It's you, chucklehead. You're the Michael sword." Zachariah said to a surprised Dean. "What, you thought you could actually kill Lucifer? You simpering wad of insecurity and self-loathing? No. You're just a human, Dean. And not much of one."

"What do you mean, I'm the sword?" Dean asked.

"You're Michael's weapon. Or, rather, his… receptacle."

"I'm a vessel?"

"You're the vessel. Michael's vessel."

"How? Why… why me?"

"Because you're the chosen! It's a great honor, Dean."

"Oh, yeah. Yeah, life as an angel condom. That's real fun. I think I'll pass, thanks."

"Joking. Always joking. Well… no more jokes." Zachariah said raising one hand, fingers like a gun, and pointed at Dean before shifting to point at Sam. "Bang." He said. There was a loud crunch sound as Sam fell to the ground unable to stand.

"Ah!" Sam yelled.

"You son of a bitch!" Dean growled.

"Keep mouthing off, I'll break more than his legs. I am completely and utterly through screwing around. The war has begun. We don't have our general. That's gad. Now, Michael is going to take his vessel and lead the final charge against the adversary. You understand me?"

"How many humans die in the crossfire, huh? A million? Five, ten?" Dean asked angrily.

"Probably more. If Lucifer goes unchecked, you know how many die? All of them. He'll roast the planet alive." Zachariah replied.

"There's a reason you're telling me this instead of just nabbing me. You need my consent. Michael needs my say so to ride around in my skin."

"Unfortunately, yes." Zachariah sighed.

"Well, there's got to be another way."

"There is no other way. There must be a battle. Michael must defeat the serpent. It is written." Zachariah said crazily.

"Yeah, maybe. But, on the other hand… Eat me. The answers no."

"Okay. How about this? Your friend Bobby… we know he's gravely injured. Say yes, and we'll heal him. Say no, he'll never walk again."

Sam glanced up at Dean.

"No." Dean replied.

"Then how about we heal you from… stage-four stomach cancer?"

Dean doubled over, coughing up blood.

"No."

"Then how about I give you the love of your life back." Zachariah said snapping his fingers. Sarah appeared behind him held up by the other angels.

Dean looked up and saw her try to say his name, but nothing come out.

"No." he said sending an I'm sorry look to her.

"Then let's get really creative. Uh, let's see how… Sam does without lungs." Sam began to gasp for air. "Are we having fun yet? You're going to say yes, Dean?" Zachariah taunted.

"Just kill us." Dean grunted.

"Kill you? Oh, no. I'm just getting started." Zachariah said.

Just then a bright light flashed behind Zachariah. He turned to see one of the angels that was holding Sarah up collapsed to the floor, Cas next to him. The other angel dropped Sarah and started to fight with Cas. They fought for a moment until Cas stabbed the other angel with his angel blade causing another bright light. Cas then walked forward.

"How are you…?" Zachariah said in shock.

"Alive? That's a good question. How did these two end up on that airplane? Another good question. 'Cause the angels didn't do it. I think we both know the answer, don't we?" Cas said menacingly.

"No. That's not possible."

"It scares you. Well, it should. Now, put these three back together and go. I won't ask twice."

Zachariah vanished. Sam looked up and around surprised. Dean and Sam stand up as Sarah rushed over to them.

"You three need to be more careful." Cas scolded.

"Yeah, I'm starting to get that. Your frat brothers are bigger dicks than I thought." Dean said.

"I don't mean the angels. Lucifer is circling his vessel. And once he takes it, those hex bags won't be enough to protect you." Cas said before placing a hand on both Sam and Dean's chests. Immediately the boys gasped in pain.

"What the hell was that?" Dean asked holding on to his chest.

"An Enochian sigil." Cas stated placing a hand on Sarah's chest and doing the Same to her. "It'll hide you from every angel in creation, including Lucifer."

"What, did you just brand us with it?" Dean asked.

"No. I carved it into your ribs."

"So I am hidden from the angels now?" Sarah asked in a wavering voice.

Cas looked blankly at her and stated, "Yes."

Sarah felt so overwhelmed with excitement that she rushed forward, grabbed Cas's face and planted a kiss on his cheek. He gave her a very curious look as she back away slightly. Dean & Sam also looked on mildly shocked.

After a pause, Sam asked, "Hey, Cas, were you really dead?"

"Yes." He answered flatly.

"Then how are you back?" Dean asked but Cas just vanished leaving the three alone. "I hate it when he does that."

They stood there looking around at the dead bodies before Sarah asked, "Where's Bobby?"


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

"Bobby!" Sarah exclaimed, running into his hospital room and flinging her arms around him.

"Hey there girlie." He said returning her hug.

Just then the doctor walked in to go over Bobby's results. The doctor looked at the three visitors and tried to politely ask them to leave but Bobby spoke up and said a simple, "They're staying."

The doctor then said a lot of things that didn't make sense to any of them so Bobby said, "What are you trying to say?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Singer, but you are unlikely to walk again."

"Unlikely to walk again?! Why, you snot-nosed son of a bitch! Wait till I get out of this bed!" Bobby yelled at the doctor causing him to flee the room. "I'll use my game leg and kick your friggin' ass! Yeah, you better run!" He looked over at Dean and Sam, "You believe that yahoo?"

"Screw him. You'll be fine." Dean said as Sarah moved forward and grabbed Bobby's hand.

"So, let me ask the million dollar question. What do we do now?" Sam asked.

"Well… we save as many as we can for as long as we can, I guess. It's bad. Whoever wins, heaven or hell, we're boned." Bobby said.

"What if we win?" Dean asked. Bobby and Sarah stared at him. Sam turned to face Dean. "I'm serious. I mean, screw the angels and the demons and their crap apocalypse. Hell, they want to fight a war, they can find their own planet. This one's ours, and I say they get the hell off it. We take 'em all on. We kill the devil. Hell, we even kill Michael if we have to. But we do it our own damn selves."

"And how are we supposed to do all this, genius?" Bobby remarked.

"I got no idea. But what I do have is a GED and a give 'em hell attitude, and I'll figure it out."

"You are nine kinds of crazy, boy." Bobby said.

"You got that right." Sarah added looked at Dean curiously.

Dean looked over at Sarah quickly then said to Bobby, "It's been said." Then patted Bobby's shoulder. "Listen, you stay on the mend, we'll see you in a bit." Then he headed to the door, followed by Sam.

"Sam?" Bobby said. Sam stopped and looked back at Bobby.

"I was awake. I know what I said back there. I just want you to know that… that was the demon talking. I ain't cutting you out, boy. Not ever." Bobby confessed. Sam paused in shock. Sarah's eyes filled with tears as she held Bobby's hand a little tighter, then she noticed the look in Dean's eyes. He looked almost pissed.

Sam sighed in relief, "Thanks, Bobby."

"You're welcome. I deserve a damn medal for this, but… you're welcome."

Dean and Sam walked out of the room. Sarah bent and kissed Bobby's forehead, saying, "Try not to kill anybody tonight."

"Spoil sport." Bobby mumbled as she left to catch up with the boys.

Sarah made it outside just a couple of moments after the boys and saw them talking.

"I just said a bunch of crap for Bobby and Sarah's benefit." Dean yelled. Sarah quickly hid behind some bushes. "I mean, I'll fight. I'll fight till the last man, but let's at least be honest. I mean, we don't stand a snowball's chance, and you know that. I mean, hell, you of all people know that."

"Dean…" Sam said causing Dean to stop and look at him. "Is there something you want to say to me?"

Dean paused then said, "I tried, Sammy. I mean, I really tried. But I just can't keep pretending that everything's alright. Because it's not. And it's never going to be. You choose a demon over your own brother…" Sam rolled his eyes, "and look what happened."

"I would give anything- anything- to take it all back." Sam said.

"I know you would. And I know how sorry you are. I do. But, man… you were the one that I depended on the most. And you let me down in ways that I can't even… I'm just… I'm having a hard time forgiving and forgetting here. You know?"

"What can I do?" Sam asked.

"Honestly? Nothing."

Sam nodded a little, looking down, not surprised.

"I just don't… I don't think we can ever be what we were. You know?" Dean said. Sam nodded again, still not surprised. "I just don't think I can trust you."

Sarah wiped her eyes and slunk back over to the door of the hospital. Then walked over to the impala like she'd just gotten outside. She joined the boys silently and they traveled to a new motel for the night.

Sarah got up the next morning, her muscles sore from the cot. She quietly got up and walked into the bathroom for a shower, trying not to wake either boy. After getting cleaned up, she started to work on her laptop. A while later, Sam got up and showered then joined her at the table. When she saw Dean get up and go in the bathroom, she said to Sam, "Hey, why don't you go get us some coffee and breakfast?"

Sam looked up at her with a slightly confused look then said, "Why?"

"Because… I'm hungry… and…"

"You want to be alone with Dean, don't you?" Sam asked catching on and giving her a 'really' look.

"Not like that, you dork!" Sarah said sarcastically. "No, I just want to have a talk with him."

"You know, now's not really the best time to talk with him." Sam said.

"Hey, it's now or never. I have to get some things clear between us. So will you go? Please?"

Sam sighed then nodded, "Alright, but you better put a sock on the door if stuff happens. I don't need that sight in my head." Then he grabbed his coat and left.

A few minutes later, Dean walked out of the bathroom and looked around. "Where's Sam?" he asked not in a good mood.

"He's getting us coffee and breakfast." Sarah answered trying not to stare at his shirtless chest.

"Hmm… yeah I bet…" he mumbled as he looked in his bag for a shirt.

"Hey. None of that. I asked him to go." Sarah said defensively.

"And why'd you do that?" he asked sounding annoyed, while pulling out his phone.

Sarah got up from the table, walked over to him and snatched his phone from his hand, earning a nasty look from Dean. "Because, we need to talk." She said emphasizing the 'we'.

Dean sighed heavily, "Sarah, I am not in the mood for one of our chats. Can we just talk later?" He asked moving to take his phone back.

Sarah quickly moved out of his way and stashed his phone in her bra. "Nope. We need to talk. I have to tell you something. Now sit!"

"I'll go in there and get that. Don't think I won't."

"Just give me a few minutes. Please…" Sarah begged.

He sighed and sat down on the edge of his bed and Sarah preceded to tell him about her reason to rejoin them after the Sandover incident. Her continued mental torture from the angels and eventual physical torture.

"Well, that's it." She said, "The moral of the story is that they will go to any lengths to get us to do 'our destinies'. And for me that's being your companion and giving birth to your kids after the battle."

Dean sat there thinking over all that she had said, "So what now?"

"Well, I think we have to try and stay away from the angel's plan for us."

"Does that mean you're leaving?"

"No. I will continue this fight with you and Sam. We have better strength when we're together. But…"

"But what?" Dean asked sharply.

"But… we have to decide here and now about us… about what type of relationship we are going to have." She said trying to find the right words. "Are we going to continue on our destined path and be intimately involved or are we going to sever those feelings and continue on just as friends?"

"And you can do that? Just work beside me and not want more?" Dean asked looking her in the eyes.

Sarah stared into his eyes a moment before looking away and saying, "It's not easy. It's never been easy, but I've done it before, I can do it again." She said looking back up at him, "With some ground rule, of course."

Dean rolled his eyes, "What rules?"

"Oh you know, just no kissing, hugging, sex, holding hands. As little physical contact as possible."

Dean thought for a moment, "And this is what you want?"

"I want what's best for both of us in this fight."

"And you know what's best?" Dean snapped. "You always know what's best for me don't you? That's why you always leave, because that's what's best!"

"Dean…"

"It's time to go check on Bobby. Give me my phone." Dean said changing the subject.

Sarah stared at him a moment before sighing and giving back his phone. "I guess that's it then." She muttered, watching him walk away.

Once at the hospital, Dean disappeared and left Sarah and Sam to go see Bobby. Bobby just sat and stared out the window not wanting to talk to anyone. Sarah leaned against the wall just inside the room while Sam leaned in the doorway.

Dean walked up a while later holding a manila folder. "We got to cheer him up. Maybe I'll give him a back rub." Dean joked.

"Dean." Sam cautioned.

"Well, what then?" Dean asked.

"Look… we might have to wrap our heads around the idea that Bobby might not just bounce back this time." Sam said then noticed the folder Dean was holding, "What's in the envelope?"

Sarah turned to look at them, acknowledging for the first time that Dean was there.

"Went to Radiology." Dean said pulling out some x-rays. "Got some glamour shots." He then held up a chest x-ray that was covered in strange markings. "Let's just say the doctors are baffled."

Sam started to examine the writing then breathed, "Holy crap."

"Yeah, well, Cas carved you both one too."

Sam's phone started to ring. He went to answer it as Sarah took the x-ray to examine.

"Hello?... Cas?" Sam asked into the phone.

"Speak of the devil." Dean mumbled.

"Ah, St. Martin's Hospital. Why? What are you… Cas?" Sam asked then hung up when it was obvious that Cas was no longer there.

A moment later, Cas walked up and joined them.

"Cell phone, Cas? Really? Since when do angels need to reach out and touch someone?" Dean quipped.

"You're hidden from angels now- all angels. I won't be able to simply…" Cas explained before Bobby cut him off.

"Enough foreplay." Bobby said gruffly, causing everyone in the room to look over at him, "Get over here and lay your damn hands on." Then added when nobody moved, "Get healing. Now."

"I can't." Cas said bluntly.

Bobby turned his chair to face Cas, "Say again?"

Cas walked over to Bobby. "I'm cut off from heaven and much of heaven's power. Certain things I can do. Certain things I can't."

"You're telling me you lost your mojo just in time to get me stuck in this trap the rest of my life?"

"I'm sorry."

"Shove it up your ass." Bobby replied then turned back to look out the window.

"At least he's talking now." Dean said trying to make a joke.

"I heard that." Bobby said grumpily. Sarah smacked the back of Dean's head.

Dean scowled at her and mumbled to her, "No touching, remember?"

Cas walked over to them and said, "I don't have much time. We need to talk."

"Okay." Dean said turning his attention to Cas.

"Your plan to kill Lucifer." Cas stated.

"Yeah. You want to help?" Dean asked.

"No. It's foolish. It can't be done."

"Oh. Thanks for the support." Dean said sarcastically.

"But I believe I have the solution. There is someone besides Michael strong enough to take on Lucifer. Strong enough to stop the apocalypse." Cas said.

"Who's that?" Sam asked.

"The one who resurrected me and put you on that airplane. The one who began everything. God." Everyone looked at Cas skeptically, so Cas added, "I'm gonna find God."

Dean quickly shut the door before asking, "God?"

"Yes." Cas stated.

"God." Dean said again.

"Yes! He isn't in heaven. He has to be somewhere."

"Try New Mexico. I hear he's on a tortilla." Dean quipped.

"No, he's not on any flatbread."

"Listen, Chuckles, even if there is a God, he is either dead—and that's the generous theory" Dean said getting angry.

"He is out there, Dean." Cas snapped.

"I mean, look around you, man. The world is in the toilet. We are literally—at the end of days here, and he's off somewhere drinking booze out of a coconut. All right?"

"Enough." Cas snapped at Dean. "This is not a theological issue. It's strategic. With God's help, we can win."

"It's a pipe dream, Cas." Dean sighed.

Castiel advanced on Dean, causing Sarah to move closer protectively. "I killed two angels this week. My brothers. I'm hunted. I rebelled. And I did it, all of it, for you, and you failed. You and your brother destroyed the world and I lost everything, for nothing. So keep your opinions to yourself."

"You didn't drop in just to tear us a new hole. What is it you want?" Bobby asked.

"I did come for something. An amulet." Cas admitted.

"An amulet? What kind?" Bobby asked.

**"**Very rare. Very powerful. It burns hot in God's presence. It'll help me find him."

"A God EMF?" Sam asked.

CAS nodded.

"Well, I don't know what you're talking about. I got nothing like that." Bobby said.

"I know. You don't." Cas said then looked at Dean then dropped his gaze to Dean's necklace.

"What, this?" Dean asked.

"May I borrow it?" Cas asked.

"No." Dean said quickly.

"Dean. Give it to me." Cas said seriously.

Dean sighed and took off the amulet, then said, "All right, I guess…" he then held it out to Cas then pulled it back and added, "Don't lose it." Castiel grabbed it. "Great. Now I feel naked."

"I'll be in touch." Cas said before disappearing.

"When you find God, tell him to send legs!" Bobby yelled.

After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, Sarah said, "Well, I need some coffee. I'll be back." Then she walked to the door.

"Make mine Irish!" Bobby yelled after her.

Sarah made her way down to the cafeteria and picked up four coffees. She was only gone about 10 minutes. When she returned to Bobby's room she saw Sam and Dean walking quickly down the hall in the other direction.

"Where'd those two run off too?" She asked once back in Bobby's room.

"Rufus just called. He's under attack." Bobby said.

"Oh my! I'll see you later Bobby!" She said kissing his forehead and running out the door. 'I wonder why those two haven't called me yet.' She thought.

She caught up to them at the impala. "You two ready to go?" She asked causing Dean to turn toward her as he neared the driver side door.

"Geez you're fast." Dean muttered.

"What were you planning on leaving before I could catch up?" she said jokingly then noticed his awkward look. "You were going to just leave me? … Seriously?" Dean looked over at Sam for help. "No, Dean, don't look to Sam for help. This has you written all over it."

Sam gave Dean a 'you're on your own' look and got in the impala.

"Look, Sarah…"

"Know what? Save it. It is very clear how your taking our earlier chat, but even you have to realize how much of a dick move this was." She said, her eyes burning with hurt and anger. "Well, one dick move deserves another." She then grabbed his jacket and pulled him close before kissing him with everything she had. She ran her hands all over his upper body. When she slipped them under his shirt, he let out a low moan. That's when she pushed him away. He gave her a bewildered look, very confused about what was going on. Sarah then opened the door to the backseat, grabbed her bag of travel supplies and turned to walk away.

Dean snapped out of his daze and asked angrily, "What the hell was that?"

Sarah turned around and said, "That was the last kiss you'll ever get from me." She then continued to walk away.

Dean grabbed her arm and asked, "But… why… wh... How was that a dick move?"

Sarah looked at him and removed his hand from her arm then said, "Because, Dean, I want you to realize that this is what you chose. It wasn't me this time, it was you. I want you to remember how much of a coward you were and how you couldn't just tell me your decision." She turned and walked away but added over her shoulder. "Don't call me, unless it's an emergency." Then she headed back into the hospital and back up to Bobby's room.

"What are you doing back?" Bobby asked.

"I thought it would be better to hang around here with you." She said giving him a small smile.

"Hmph…" Bobby mumbled, "Well, who said I wanted ya?"

"Oh can it you old fart. You're stuck with me until I get you home." She said sitting in the chair and staring out the window. A minute later, her phone buzzed. Looking down she saw a text from Sam saying, 'sorry'. She closed her phone and continued to stare out the window.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

It had been a little over a week since Sarah had gotten Bobby home. She stayed with him for a couple of days to help him adjust to the wheelchair then she went in search of a case.

Late one night she drove into a town called Waterville in Maine. She had found what looked like heavy demonic activity and decided to check things out. On her way to the local motel she saw a very familiar impala parked near an unmarked building. She did a little recon and found that it was a brothel. Rolling her eyes she dialed Sam's number, but got his voicemail again. He hadn't answered her calls since he and Dean had left her with Bobby. Dean hadn't either.

She decided to give Bobby a try.

"What?" he asked gruffly.

"Hey, grumpy. You still up right?" She asked.

"Oh, aren't you just a ray of sunshine. What can I do for you?"

"You hear anything from the boys? Cuz their not answering my calls."

"Well, they sorta split up."

"They what?!"

"Yeah. Hey, you aren't near Oklahoma are you?"

"No. I'm over in Maine."

"Okay. Guess I gotta make some calls then. You need anything else?"

"Just tell Sam to call me or at least answer my damn calls. Okay?"

"Yeah, good luck with that. What about Dean?"

"Oh, I'm gonna deliver that message personally. As soon as he gets out of this damn brothel." She said hanging up.

A few minutes later, she saw Dean and Castiel run out of the building. Dean was laughing uncontrollably. After a few minutes they headed back to the impala. Dean stopped short when he saw Sarah sitting on his car.

"Wha… how… What are you doing here? Are you stalking me?" Dean asked.

"Oh stop it Dean, I just came to check out the demon activity. If you'd answer my damn calls once in a while, I'd know you had this one covered." Sarah scolded.

"Sarah…"

"No, I'm serious. We are in one hell of a fight and need to put our damn feelings away and get our jobs done. Okay?"

"Fine." Dean growled.

"Good. Now what's going on here?" Sarah asked.

Dean looked over at Cas then slowly said, "Well, Cas… had never… been with a woman so…"

"Wait! I mean what's going on in this town? Is there a case?" Sarah asked trying to get off that topic.

"Oh… yeah… It's taken care of."

"Okay. That's good." She said awkwardly.

"So. We should be going now." Dean said signaling Cas to get in the impala.

"Before you go, can I just say…"

"Say what?" Dean asked cutting her off.

"I wanted to say, I think you and your brother are idiots for splitting up."

"And why's that?" Dean snapped.

"Because that's exactly what the angels and demons want. The wanted us divided."

"Well, thanks for your advice but I couldn't give a damn what you thought." He said getting in the impala.

Sarah walked over to the passenger side door and leaned in the open window. "So does having not been with a woman mean you've never been kissed either?" She asked Cas before closing the gap and laying one on him. After a moment she pulled back, "There, now that's done. Care to keep your minds focused now, boys?" she looked quickly at both of their expressions then walked back to her car and drove off with a smile.

A week later, Sarah had just finished with a poltergeist case, feeling more tired than she had in a while, she found herself pulling into a nearby motel for the night.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Sarah woke up to the feel of something digging into her back. Looking around her surroundings, she found that she was no longer in her motel room. She was in a rundown room with no mattress. She headed outside to see that the whole town was destroyed. As she explored she saw the word 'Croatoan' written on a nearby wall.

'Oh crap.' She thought.

Just then something caught her eye. She looked over and saw a group of infected zombie like people stalking her. She ran quickly in the other direction until she ran into something. Looking up she saw it was Dean.

"Dean?"

"Sarah? What's going on?" he asked just as confused as her. Just then several soldiers and tanks arrived and started to shoot the infected people. "Come on." He said, leading her to cover in a nearby alley. They managed to break through a fence that was surrounding the city and escaped.

Once outside they saw a sign that said,

_'Croatoan Virus Hot Zone_

_No Entry_

_By Order of Acting Regional Command_

_August 1, 2014_

_Kansas City'_

"August 1, 2014?" Dean mumbled.

"What the hell?" Sarah whispered.

They found a car that they could hot wire and started to drive away from the city. They tried using their cellphones and the radio only to get nothing.

"That's never a good sign." Dean mumbled.

"Croatoan pandemic reaches Australia." Zachariah said from the back seat, startling both Dean and Sarah.

"I thought I smelled your stink on this _Back to the Future_ crap." Dean spat.

"'President Palin defends bombing of Houston.' Certainly a buyer's market in real estate. Let's see what's happening in sports. That's right—no more sports. Congress revoked the right to group assembly. What's left of Congress, that is. Hardly a quorum, if you ask me." Zachariah stated, reading from a newspaper.

"How did you find me?" Dean asked.

"Afraid we had to tap some unorthodox resources of late—human informants. We've been making inspirational visits to the fringier Christian groups. They've been given your image, told to keep an eye out."

"The Bible freak outside the motel—he, what, dropped a dime on me?" Dean asked.

"Onward, Christian soldiers." Zachariah teased.

"But I haven't seen anyone like that recently." Sarah stated.

"Oh, sweetheart…" Zachariah chided not answering the question.

"Okay, well, good, great. You have had your jollies. Now send me back, you son of a bitch." Dean growled.

"Oh, you'll get back—all in good time. We want you to marinate a bit."

"Marinate?" Dean and Sarah asked.

"Three days, Dean. Three days to see where this course of action takes you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Dean asked.

"It means that your choices have consequences. This is what happens to the world if you continue to say 'no' to Michael. Have a little look-see." Zachariah said before vanishing.

"Ahh! I really hate him!" Sarah growled.

They pulled up to Bobby's house and slowly walked in.

"Bobby? Bobby. I'm coming in!" Dean yelled as they started to look around.

The place was thoroughly trashed, and it was clear nobody had been there in a while.

"Oh, no." Dean said walking over to Bobby's overturned wheelchair.

"Are those bullet holes?' Sarah asked in a whisper.

Dean righted the chair. "Where is everybody, Bobby?" Dean said to the air. He then walked over and opened a hidden compartment and pulled out his dad's journal. He also found a picture of Bobby and Cas with three other men next to a sign.

"Camp Chitaqua." Dean read.

Sarah wiped her eyes and took the picture from Dean. "Let's go find some answers." She said.

A while later, they crept up to the sign in the picture. They saw men with guns inside the fence patrolling. The stay out of sight until Dean spotted his Impala, smashed up and rusted.

"Oh, baby, no." he whispered, then started to move toward it.

"Dean! Leave it!" Sarah whispered after him but he was already at the car. Sarah stayed hidden and started looking around to make sure the coast was clear. When she turned back Dean was gone.

"Dean?" she whispered but all she found was silence.

She slunk around in the shadows trying to find Dean. She had been searching for a while, having to take cover a few times, when she spotted Dean walking to a vehicle with a couple of other guys. She was about to run out to rescue him when she got a good look at his face. It had a very hard expression. Everything about him was different. This was not her Dean. She backed up further in the shadows, but backed up too quickly and slipped, falling back on a rock and loosing consciousness.

She woke up a while later and stood up slowly, rubbing her head, trying to remember what was going on. She walked out of her hiding place looking around.

"Hey! Who are you?" An angry woman yelled pointing a gun at her.

"I'm Sarah. I'm just looking for my friend, Dean."

The woman looked Sarah up and then lead her over to a small group of people. When they got close she heard Dean say, "I'm not gonna lie to you. Me and him- it's a pretty messed up situation we got going. But believe me, when you need to know something, you will know it. Until then, we all have work to do." The small crowd dispersed and Sarah was able to see both Future Dean and her Dean.

"Sir, I found this girl wandering around." The angry woman said, "She says she's your friend."

Both Dean's looked over at her, but Future Dean's face held nothing but shock.

"Sir?" the woman said again, sharply.

Future Dean snapped out of his trance and said, "I'll take care of her." Then he grabbed her arm and pulled her to one of the cabins. Past Dean followed close behind.

"Hey. It's really her. Don't hurt her." Past Dean said once they were at the cabin.

"He's speaking the truth. Her aura's pure." Cas said.

"Give us a minute, guys." Future Dean said before taking Sarah inside and locking the door.

"What's going on?" She asked warily as Future Dean returned his gaze to her. "You're scaring me."

He removed his hand from her arm and placed both of his hands on either side of her face. "Is it really you?" he asked.

"Yeah… well me from 2009… what's going on, Dean? You look like you haven't seen me in a while… What happens to me?" she asked starting to panic. He rested his forehead on hers and closed his eyes. "Dean?" she asked again before he pulled her in for an earth shattering kiss. At first, Sarah stood there in shock before her own longing took over and she started to kiss him back. He pulled her as close as he physically could. After a few moments Sarah pushed him away. "Wait… wait… tell me what is wrong…"

Future Dean looked at her then said, "It's just been so long…"

She was about to speak again when the door opened. Past Dean walked in as Future Dean moved away from Sarah.

"What the hell is going on?" Past Dean asked.

Future Dean advanced on Past Dean and asked, "What the hell was that out there?"

"What the hell was that? You just shot a guy in cold blood." Past Dean questioned back.

"We were in an open quarantine zone. Got ambushed by some Croats on the way out." Future Dean said then added, "Croats. Croatoans. One of them infected Yeager."

"How do you know?" Past Dean asked as he eyed Sarah, who just stood there as if in a trance.

"Cause after a few years of this, I know. I started seeing symptoms about a half an hour ago. Wasn't gonna be long before he flipped. I didn't see the point in troubling a good man with bad news."

The Deans talked for a bit more, but Sarah tuned them out. Lost in her thoughts. She stayed quiet until Future Dean left the cabin to gather his team.

"Hey. You alright?" Past Dean asked shaking her slightly.

Sarah slowly looked up at Dean. "He… I… Dean, I don't think I'm alive any more…"

"What? Did he tell you that?"

"No… but… he… he kissed me…"

"He what?" Dean said with a hint of anger.

"He kissed me like he hadn't seen me in a very long time."

Before Past Dean could say anything, Future Dean walked in with Cas and a girl.

"So, that's it? That's the colt?" the girl Riza, said with a bit of attitude.

"If anything can kill Lucifer, this is it." Future Dean stated.

"Great. Have we got anything that can find Lucifer?" Riza asked with even more attitude.

"Are you okay?" Future Dean asked sensing something was wrong.

"Oh, we were in, uh, Jane's cabin last night. And, apparently, we and Riza have a connection." Past Dean filled in.

"You want to shut up?" Future Dean warned.

"Ha. You never change do you?" Sarah said. Future Dean gave her a look, filled with pain and regrets.

"We don't have to find Lucifer. We know where he is. The demon that we caught last week, he was one of the big guy's entourage. He knew." Future Dean said.

"So, a demon tells you where Satan's gonna be, and you just believe it?" Riza asked skeptically.

"Oh, trust me, he wasn't lying." Future Dean said.

"And you know this how?" Riza asked.

"Our fearless leader, I'm afraid, is all too well schooled in the art of getting to the truth." Cas said.

"Torture? Oh, so, we're… we're torturing again?" Past Dean asked. "No, that's… that's good. Classy."

Castiel started to laugh and Future Dean glared at him. "What? I like past you."

"Lucifer is here. Now. I know the block and I know the building." Future Dean stated.

"Oh, good—it's right in the middle of a hot zone." Castiel said.

"Crawling with Croats, yeah. You saying my plan is reckless?" Future Dean asked.

"Are you saying we, uh, walk in straight up the driveway, past all the demons and the Croats, and we shoot the devil?" Castiel asked.

"Yes." Future Dean said simply.

"Okay, if you don't like, uh, 'reckless', I could use 'insouciant', maybe." Castiel joked.

"Are you coming?" Future Dean asked.

Castiel sighed then said, "Of course. But why is he? I mean, he's you five years ago. If something happens to him, you're gone, right?"

"He's coming. They're both coming." Future Dean stated gruffly.

"Okay. Well, uh. I'll get the grunts moving." Castiel said getting up.

"We're loaded and on the road by midnight." Future Dean commanded.

"All righty." Castiel said turning to leave. He stopped at Sarah and said, "It is good to see you again." Then he pulled her into a hug.

"Uh… thanks Cas…" Sarah said after he released her. He then left the cabin followed by Riza, who gave Sarah another really nasty look when she walked passed.

"Why are you taking us?" Past Dean asked.

"Relax. You'll be fine. Zach's looking after you, right?" Future Dean said.

"No, that's not what I mean. I want to know what's going on." Past Dean demanded then added, "Start with what happened to Sarah."

"What about her?" Future Dean asked. Past Dean just stared at him. "She's not here because she's dead. Died trying to take on Lucifer herself."

Past Dean looked over at Sarah who looked shocked. "Why would I try to do something that stupid?"

Future Dean looked uncomfortable but decided not to answer.

"Alright. Tell me what's going on now. Why do you want us there?" Past Dean said.

"You're coming because I want you to see something. I want you to see our brother." Future Dean stated.

"Sam?" Sarah asked confused.

"I thought he was dead." Past Dean said causing Sarah's eyes to widen.

"Sam didn't die in Detroit. He said 'yes'." Future Dean said.

"'Yes'?" Past Dean asked then after a long silence, said, "Wait. You mean—"

"That's right. The big 'yes'. To the devil. Lucifer's wearing him to the prom." Future Dean said.

"Why would he do that?" Past Dean asked.

"Wish I knew. But now we don't have a choice. It's in him, and it's not getting out. And we've got to kill him, Dean. And you need to see it—the whole damn thing, how bad it gets—so you can do it different." Future Dean explained.

"What do you mean?" Past Dean asked.

"Zach said he was gonna bring you back, right? To oh-nine?" Future Dean asked.

"Yeah." Past Dean said.

"Well, when you get back home—you say 'yes'. You hear me? Say 'yes' to Michael." Future Dean warned.

"That's crazy. If I let him in, then Michael fights the devil. The battle's gonna torch half the planet." Past Dean said.

"Look around you, man. Half the planet's better than no planet, which is what we have now. If I could do it over again, I'd say 'yes' in a heartbeat." Future Dean said.

"So why don't you?" Past Dean asked.

"I've tried! I've shouted 'yes' till I was blue in the face! The angels aren't listening! They just—left—gave up! It's too late for me, but for you…"

"Oh, no. There's got to be another way." Past Dean reasoned.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. I was cocky. Never actually thought I'd lose. But I was wrong. Dean. I was wrong. I'm begging you. Say yes…" Future Dean begged then paused and added, "But you won't. 'Cause I didn't. Because that's just not us, is it?"

They joined the others and journeyed to the location to find Lucifer.

"There. Second-floor window. We go in there." Future Dean stated.

"You sure about this?" Riza asked.

"They'll never see us coming. Trust me. Now, weapons check. We're on the move in five." Future Dean commanded.

"Hey, uh, me. Can I talk to you for a sec?" Past Dean asked pulling Future Dean aside.

Sarah stayed behind and watched as the others geared up.

Future Dean returned a minute later and told the others to move out. Then he grabbed Sarah's hand and pulled her with him.

"Where's Dean?" She asked.

"I'm right here." He stated.

"No, Where's 2009 Dean?" Sarah asked pulling her arm from his grasp.

Future Dean sighed, turning toward her and said, "Forget about him." Then he closed the gap, pulling her close and staring into her eyes. "Stay with me. Once I kill Lucifer, we could finally be together." He moved to kiss her but she pulled back.

"Wait… what?"

"He won't appreciate you like I do. I know because I didn't until you were gone. Please…" He said as he started to kiss her.

Sarah couldn't believe what he was saying. She couldn't leave the Dean from her time. But… this Dean was so much more agreeable… so much easier to be with… almost too easy…

"I can't…" She said pulling away. "I'm sorry. I can't. I have to try and stop the apocalypse. I'm sorry." She then gave him one last kiss then ran back to try and find her Dean.

"Dean? Dean?" she called out trying to find him.

"Sarah?" She heard nearby. She ran over and found Dean just getting off the ground.

"What's going on?" he asked as they heard gunfire from inside the building. They broke into a run and reached the building in time to see Future Dean on the ground, neck being held down by the foot of someone wearing all white. FE opened his eyes and looked right at Past Dean. Then the man in white shifted his weight and snapped Future Dean's neck. The man in white slowly turned around to face the others.

"Oh. Hello, Dean." Lucifer Sam said, "Sarah, good to see you again." After a pause he added, "Aren't you a surprise." Thunder and lightning filled the air. "You've come a long way to see this, haven't you?" Lucifer Sam said from behind them.

"Well, go ahead. Kill me." Dean said moving protectively in front of Sarah.

"Kill you?" Lucifer Sam asked, looking from Future Dean's corpse to Past Dean, "Don't you think that would be a little...redundant?" He then looked over at Sarah and smirked, "For both of you." Then he sighed and said, "I'm sorry. It must be painful, speaking to me in this—shape. But it had to be your brother. It had to be." He reached for Dean's shoulder but Dean moved back. "You don't have to be afraid of me, Dean. What do you think I'm going to do?"

"I don't know. Maybe deep-fry the planet?"

"Why? Why would I want to destroy this stunning thing? Beautiful in a trillion different ways. The last perfect handiwork of God." Lucifer Sam said as he examined a nearby rose. Then after a pause said, "You ever hear the story of how I fell from grace?"

"Oh, good God, you're not gonna tell me a bedtime story, are you? My stomach's almost out of bile." Dean said.

"You know why God cast me down? Because I loved him. More than anything. And then God created..." Lucifer Sam smirked. "You. The little...hairless apes. And then he asked all of us to bow down before you—to love you, more than him. And I said, "Father, I can't." I said, "These human beings are flawed, murderous." And for that, God had Michael cast me into hell. Now, tell me, does the punishment fit the crime? Especially, when I was right? Look at what six billion of you have done to this thing, and how many of you blame me for it."

"You're not fooling me, you know that? With this sympathy-for-the-devil crap. I know what you are." Dean retorted.

"What am I?" Lucifer Sam asked.

"You're the same thing, only bigger. The same brand of cockroach I've been squashing my whole life. An ugly, evil, belly-to-the-ground, supernatural piece of crap. The only difference between them and you is the size of your ego." Dean said gruffly.

Lucifer Sam smiled, "I like you, Dean. I get what the other angels see in you. Goodbye. We'll meet again soon." He turned to walk away but stopped to look at Sarah, "I'll see you really soon, sweetheart." He then winked and started to walk away. Sarah grabbed Dean's arm.

"You better kill me now!" Dean yelled.

"Pardon?" Lucifer Sam asked turning around.

"You better kill me now. Or I swear, I will find a way to kill you. And I won't stop." Dean growled.

"I know you won't. I know you won't say yes to Michael, either. And I know you won't kill Sam. Whatever you do, you will always end up here. Whatever choices you make, whatever details you alter, we will always end up—here. I win. So, I win." Lucifer Sam said smugly.

"You're wrong." Dean growled.

Lucifer Sam smiled, "See you in five years, Dean." Then he was gone.

Dean and Sarah looked around and found Zachariah behind them. Zachariah placed two fingers on both of their foreheads transporting them back to 2009.

They reappeared in Dean's motel room. Dean fell against the counter behind him while Sarah Sarah fell to the ground by him.

"Oh, well, if it isn't the ghost of Christmas screw you." Dean said trying to get his barring's.

"Enough. Dean, enough. You saw it, right? You saw what happens. You're the only person who can prove the devil wrong. Just say yes." Zachariah said.

"How do I know that this whole thing isn't one of your tricks? Huh? Some angel hocus-pocus?" Dean questioned.

"The time for tricks is over. Give yourself to Michael. Say yes and we can strike, before Lucifer gets to Sam. Before billions die." Zachariah reasoned.

Dean considered it for a moment then said, "Nah." As he helped Sarah to stand, keeping her hand in his.

"Nah? You telling me you haven't learned your lesson?" Zachariah asked getting angry.

"Oh, I've learned a lesson, alright. Just not the one you wanted to teach." Dean said.

"And you? Did you learn yours Sarah?" Zachariah asked switching his attention to her.

Sarah glared at him then said, "I learned that…" she looked at Dean then back at Zachariah, "We… are… the… champions." She sang causing Dean to give her a curious expression.

Zachariah looked like his head was going to explode. "Well, I'll just have to teach it again! Because I got you now, and I'm never letting you…" Zachariah yelled until they disappeared.

They looked around because they were now on the side of the rood.

"That's pretty nice timing, Cas." Dean said gratefully.

"We had an appointment." Cas said simply.

Dean put a hand on Cas' shoulder, "Don't ever change."

Sarah moved forward and hugged Cas. "Thank you." She whispered.

"How did Zachariah find you?" Cas asked over Sarah's shoulder.

"Long story. Let's just stay away from Jehovah's witnesses from now on, okay?" Dean said before pulling out his cell phone.

"What are you doing?" Cas asked as Sarah pulled back awkwardly, looking at Dean.

"Something I should have done in the first place." Dean said as Sarah leaned into him. Dean wrapped his free arm around her as he waited for Sam to pick up.

When he got off the phone, Cas ported the impala and their stuff to them. And then Dean and Sarah were off to get Sam.

"So are you going to tell me why you decided to sing 'We are the champions' to Zachariah?" Dean asked.

Sarah smirked at the memory of how mad Zachariah had gotten, "Well the last time he took me prisoner, you know the night of Bobby's accident. He decided to have a little fun while he waited for you to get to the storage unit. And to kinda keep my sanity in there, and to piss him off, I started to sing that song over and over. When he'd cut deep, I'd sing louder… I think I made a lasting impression on him."

Dean started to laugh, "Oh my, you really are crazy."

"So I hear."

After a little while Dean asked, "So… what happened between you and future me?"

"Why? You jealous?" Sarah teased. Dean shifted uncomfortably. "You are, aren't you?"

"Just answer the question. When I regained consciousness, at the big fight, you looked like there was a war raging inside of you."

"You could see that?" she asked in a small voice. Dean gave her a worried look. Sarah sighed. "After he knocked you out, he kinda begged me to stay with him… in 2014."

"What?"

"He told me that you, 2009 Dean, would never really appreciate me until I'm gone." Sarah admitted.

"Really… and… you chose to come back with me?"

"Yep." Sarah said simply looking straight out the front window.

"Why?"

"Why does it matter?" She retorted.

"Did you come back thinking that we would…"

"What?! No. Why would you think that?" Sarah said hurriedly.

Dean sighed, "Never mind," then they sat in silence until they reached the meeting point, just before dawn. Dean got out and leaned on the passenger side of the impala to wait.

"Dean…" Sarah started as she opened the car door to get out.

"Don't… Just don't. Please just stay there. I want to talk with Sam alone, alright?" he said gruffly.

She silently closed the door and sat there quietly. She watched as Sam pulled up and the boys spoke tensely for a few minutes. She cracked the window so she could listen.

"Sam… if you're serious and you want back in… you should hang on to this. I'm sure you're rusty." Dean said handing Sam, the demon killing knife. Sarah breathed a sigh of relief at Dean's remark. "Look, man, I'm sorry. I don't know. I'm… whatever I need to be, but I was, uh, wrong."

"What made you change your mind?"

"Long story."

"Is that Sarah? Did you two make up?" Sam asked.

"Like I said, long story. The point is… maybe we are each other's Achilles heel. Maybe they'll find a way to use us against each other. I don't know. I just know we're all we've got. More than that. We keep each other human." Dean answered.

"Thank you. Really, thank you. I won't let you down." Sam said gratefully.

"Oh, I know it. I mean, you are the second best hunter on the planet. Well probably third now, after Sarah." Dean joked.

Sam nodded. "So, what do we do now?"

"We make our own future." Dean stated.

"Guess we have no choice." Sam said simply.

They stood there for a minute before Sarah said, "Hey, are you two nerds done with your moment?"

Dean groaned and walked back to the driver's side of the impala, visibly irritated. Sarah took that as her cue, that she could get out of the car. "Hey, Sambo." She said walking up and pulling him into a hug. When she pulled back she smacked him across the face. He looked at her curiously. "That's for not calling me back. It'll be worse the next time, if either of you try to cut me out like that again."

Sam nodded and retrieved his bags. Sarah looked at Dean. His expression was hard but was no match for hers. He finally looked away flinging his arms in the air. She then nodded, proud that she had won the argument.

"Alrighty, boys, you two behave. And don't forget to answer my calls." She said grabbing her bags from the backseat of the impala.

"Where are you going?" Dean asked.

"You're not going with us?" Sam asked.

Sarah put her bags inside the car Sam had used. She looked over at the boys and smiled. "I will, soon. I promise. But right now, you two need to get reacquainted. Find your rhythm again."

"Oh, come on. Quit the bull and get in the car." Dean said pissed off.

Sarah got in the driver's seat of the other car, "I'll be seeing you two." She then used the exposed wires under the dash and sparked the car to life. And then she was off, leaving Sam and Dean alone with dumbstruck expressions on their faces.

She drove straight to Bobby's house. Walking in she found him at his desk doing research.

"Bobby?" She asked softly.

"Yeah?" he said harshly, then looked up and saw she had tear filled eyes. "Sarah? What's wrong?"

Sarah ran to him and flung her arms around him and let the tears fall freely. "Oh Bobby, I'm so happy you're ok!"

"What happened to you?" he asked pulling her back so he could look at her face.

Sarah preceded to tell Bobby everything that she'd been through the last few days. Everything about going to the year 2014.

Bobby listened quietly then told her to get cleaned up and to help him with his research.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

A couple of weeks went by and Sarah stayed with Bobby. Helping him where she could, but also doing as much research on the angels as she could.

She was just walking into the kitchen when she heard Bobby on the phone.

"No. There's lore on it. Goes back centuries. Traveling card player pops into town. You beat him, you get your best years back. 'Course, most folks lose." Supposedly, this players a hell of a card shark. Got a lot of years in the back. You find the bar he's working yet?" pause "Well, why you still talking to me?" He said then hung up.

She saw him roll over and pick up his keys then continued on toward the door.

"Where are you going?" She asked startling him.

"I… uh… I'm gonna go help the boys on their case."

"Oh, is something wrong? Did something happen to one of the boys?" Sarah asked concerned.

"No. No. They just need an extra set of eyes. Nothing to worry about. I'll be back before you know it." He said wheeling out the door.

Sarah ran upstairs, threw some clothes and supplies in a bag and ran back downstairs and out the door. She hopped in Bobby's van while he was grabbing supplies.

He wheeled up to the driver's door and saw her sitting there. "You gonna sit there all day? Let's go." She said not letting Bobby say anything.

They drove for a few hours and got to the city just after nightfall.

"Alright, let's split up. I'll take the bars on the north side. You can take the bars south of here. You find the game, you call me immediately." Bobby ordered then rolled away.

A few hours later, Sarah was about to walk in her 10th bar when Sam walked out and almost ran into her.

"Hey, watch it buddy!" she yelled at him not seeing who he was.

"Wow, you really are a sweet talker aren't you?" he said.

"Oh, Sam! I should've realized it was your gigantor frame!"

He laughed a little, "What are you doing here? I thought you were helping Bobby for a while."

"I am. We came to help you guys. Care for some company?"

They worked for another two hours trying to find the poker game, then decided to head back to the motel to eat and regroup. They walked inside and Sam tossed the food bag on the table.

"Hey, Dean? You find anything?" Sam called out, after hearing someone in the bathroom.

"Uh, you might say." An old man said, walking into view.

Sam and Sarah jumped and drew their guns, taking aim at the old man, who was wearing a bathrobe.

"Who the hell are you?" Sam yelled.

"Dude, relax. It's me." The man said calmly.

Sam lowered his gun, and said with a puzzled look, "Dean?"

"Hi," he said.

"What?" Sarah said putting her gun away and walking over to examine Dean.

"What the hell happened?" Sam asked as Sarah ran her fingers over Dean's now very aged face.

"I, you know… found the game." Dean said then moved back a little saying, "Come on Sarah. Do you have to do that? Isn't that against your rules?"

"That was before you aged fifty years." She said still mesmerized. Dean headed to the table and grabbed a burger after shooing Sarah away.

"You f… I thought you said you were good at poker." Sam said.

"I am. Shut up. So, you were just gonna shoot some old guy? Is that it?" Dean asked.

"I didn't know what you were. I mean, have you seen you? You look like..." Sam said before Dean cut him off.

"The old chick in Titanic. I know shut up."

"I was gonna say Emperor Palpatine." Sam joked.

"Nah, I'd go more with Clint Eastwood." Sarah said making the boys look up at her.

Just then, the door thudded open and Bobby rolled in. "I see you met John McCain there." Bobby said sarcastically.

"Yeah. Either of you want to tell me what happened?" Sam asked.

"Bobby's an idiot. That's what happened." Dean stated.

"Hey, nobody asked you to play." Bobby retorted.

"Right, I should have just let you die."

"And for damn sure, nobody asked you to lose." Bobby continued.

Sam started grinning, "It's like Grumpy Old Men."

"Shut up, Sam." Bobby and Dean said in unison.

Sarah couldn't contain her laughter, earning her harsh glares.

"What the hell were you thinking? He's a witch. He's been playing poker since guys wore tights." Dean scolded.

"You just don't get it." Bobby said.

"Yeah, I get it, Bobby. You saw a chance to turn the hands of the clock back and get out of that damn chair. Pretty tempting. I can imagine." Dean stated.

"No, you can't" Bobby said angrily.

"You got me. I never been paralyzed. But I tell you something – I've been to hell, and there's an archangel there wanting me to drop the soap. Look at me! My junk's rustier than yours! You hear me belly aching? Huh?" Dean ranted.

"Uh, actually. Yeah." Sam said.

"And with a little too much information." Sarah added.

"Oh!" Dean exclaimed clutching his chest. "I'm having a heart attack." Sarah and Sam got up, worried. Sarah rushed over to his side.

"No, you're not." Bobby said simply.

"What is it?" Dean asked in pain.

"Acid reflux. Guys our age can't digest certain foods. You're gonna need to put down that cheeseburger." Bobby gloated. Dean sighed and put down the burger.

"I'll go get you something else to eat, okay?" Sarah said, then left them alone to talk.

She returned a few minutes later to find an empty motel room. She pulled out her phone and dialed Bobby. "Where'd you all go?"

"The boys are checking out the witches apartment."

"Well, where at? I'll come help."

"Ah… no need to worry. We've got this covered. Why don't you just call it an early night." He said then hung up.

"Bastard." She muttered sitting down on the bed. "Well, I'm not gonna sit here and wait on them." She then got up and changed into something lower cut and tighter. Then she went to get a drink.

After a little while of sitting alone at the bar she heard a man say to her, "Now why is a pretty thing like you, drinking alone."

"Just trying to have a drink in peace." She said not even looking over at him.

"Now, come on, Sarah. No need to be crass." The stranger said.

Sarah's head snapped up as she turned to look at the stranger. He was a handsome man with black hair and tanned features. He had a drink in one hand and was playing with a poker chip with the other.

"You have me at a disadvantage. You know my name but I don't know yours." She said trying to slowly reach into her bag.

"Patrick." He said smirking, placing a toothpick in his mouth. "And I'd rethink going for that gun. It'd do you no good." Sarah stopped her movements. "Especially since you are feeling so… so tired."

"Wha…" Sarah started saying before she blacked out.

Sarah woke up in the cellar of some sort of tavern with cases of beer and other liqueur stacked about. A beautiful blonde woman approached. Sarah tried to move but was being held in place by some sort of invisible bonds.

"That's not going to help." The woman said.

"Where am I? Who are you?" Sarah questioned.

"I'm Lia. I just want to assure you that no harm will come to you. Just…" Lia stopped, as the sounds of someone else could be heard, "Just wanted to give you some water." She said, acting differently when Patrick walked into view.

"Oh, I see our guest has woken." He said with a stupid smirk.

"Guest? You bastard! You kidnapped me!" Sarah yelled at him.

"Hey, language! Remember you're a lady!" he said cheekily.

"Undo these bonds and I'll show you just how ladylike I am." Sarah said through clenched teeth.

"Oh, you are a feisty one." Patrick said then snapped his fingers and everything started to go fuzzy.

Before the blackness could overtake her, she said, "We will win. We have battled angels, demons and countless other monsters. We are on a journey to take down the devil and will not be bested by one stupid witch." Then she blacked out again.

Dean & Bobby returned to the motel room the next day. Sam had split from them to go find the card game. The two old men needed to regroup.

Walking in they found a woman sitting on one of the beds. She held up a piece of paper and said, "Take it. It'll help you."

Bobby rolled over and took the paper. "What is it?" he asked.

"The most powerful reversal spell you've ever laid your eyes on." She said.

"And it reverses what?" Dean asked.

"Patrick's work – all of it." She said.

"You – you saying I could be normal again?" Dean asked.

"You and everyone else he's ever played. .. Who's still alive. It would also help to free your female friend."

Dean and Bobby's eyes widened, having not realized that Sarah wasn't around.

"Why the hell should we trust you?" Dean asked.

"Trust me, don't trust me. I don't care. The spell is real." She said getting up and heading to the door.

"If it zaps everyone, don't that include your man?" Bobby asked.

"And me, too. I look good for my age." She said.

"Lady, this don't add up for squat. Why would you want that?" Bobby asked.

"I… have my reasons." She said glancing down at the locket she had around her neck, "Do it quick. We leave tomorrow." And then she was gone.

Sam sat across the table from Patrick, trying not to eye the toothpick he desperately needed to steal.

"I like you, Sam. I do. You're smart, and your heart's clearly in the right place." Patrick said. Sam remained quiet. "I can tell a lot about a guy by looking."

"You mean you're psychic." Sam stated.

"No. That'd be cheating. I'm talking about good old-fashioned intuition."

Sam nodded, "Right. Let's play."

They started to play a few hands. After a while Lia walked in and kissed Patrick. "Little break?" Patrick asked, winking at Sam.

Sam hurried outside and gave Dean the toothpick he'd swiped from the table. He then hurried back inside. When he sat back down across from Patrick, Patrick said, "Question." He then held up a toothpick. "Is this what you meant to give your big brother?... The one you gave him never passed my lips. Won't do a scrap of good." He then threw the toothpick across the table. "I don't like cheating, Sam." He stretched out his hand and clenched it into a fist causing Sam to feel pain.

Lia intervened and revealed that she had given the spell to Sam. Patrick in a fit of anger yelled at Sam to continue playing.

After another hand, Sam managed to surprise Patrick by bluffing what he had.

"Nice bluff. If we had time, I could make a real player out of you." Patrick said.

"I got time." Sam stated.

Patrick grinned, "Maybe. But I can't say the same for Dean. Your brother's gonna be dean soon…" Sam looked up at him, angry. "And Sarah… well she might not last as long." He snapped his fingers and an invisible cloth feel from Sarah's silent bleeding form. "And when I say 'soon'… I mean minutes." Sam stood up but Patrick extended his fist to yank Sam back down with magic. "The game's not over till I say it is. Blinds." They both slap down a few chips, and the hand begins.

"So… When it's about your family, you get so emotional, your brain just flies right out the window… Good to know." Patrick gloated.

"Go to hell." Sam growled. "I'm all in."

Patrick sighed, "Don't do that, Sam."

"I can't leave until it's over? Fine. It's over. Now, where's my brother?" Sam yelled.

"Look, there's poker and then there's suicide." Patrick said.

"Just play the hand."

"Fine." Patrick said adding his chips to the pot.

Patrick dealt a few more cards then turned over his own to show two aces. "I'm sorry, kid. Aces full."

Sam let out a breath. He glanced at Lia. "You're crying… For a witch, you're so nice, it's actually kind of creepy. It's okay." Sam looked at Patrick. "It was a great hand." As Patrick moved to collect the pot Sam said, "Just not as great as four fours."

Patrick leaned back, "Well played. You know, that whole… going-out-of-your-head-bit, very method." Sam smirked as Patrick continued, "Well, there's more to you than meets the eye."

Sam pushed the chips forward, "Cash these in for Dean, and FIX Sarah!"

Patrick nodded, "With pleasure." He snapped his fingers and Sarah jumped to life.

Sam ran over and picked her up, "Are you okay?" he asked. She nodded, not able to speak yet.

Once in the car, she started to regain control of her body, "What the hell happened?" she asked once her voice returned. Sam filled her in on their drive back to the motel. "I knew we'd win." She smiled smugly.

They pulled up just before Dean and Bobby did. Getting out of the impala slowly, Sarah walked over to Dean.

"Are you sure you looked this old before all this?" she asked playfully examining Dean's newly returned features. Sam and Bobby started laughing.

"Oh, Shut up!" Dean grunted, "What about you? You always dress this slutty when working?"

Bobby & Sam stopped laughing quickly, bracing themselves for a fight.

Sarah closed the gap to Dean and geared up to say something, then let out a breath, "Never mind." She then turned away and started to walk away. "I'm gonna go find some food. Try not to leave me this time."

She returned to the motel a little later. Just in time to overhear Dean's pep talk with Bobby.

"Let's go, Ironsides." Dean said.

Sarah quickly made it look like she'd just gotten there.

'Oh, that one's sticking, huh?" Bobby said before they both headed out the door. "Hey, kiddo. You doing alright?" he asked Sarah.

"Yeah. You ready to head home?" She asked him.

"You sure you want to go with me? I'm sure the boys would like to have you back." Bobby said, causing Dean to stop in his tracks and look back.

"No. no. I don't think so." She said then put her bag in the van and got in.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

A week later…

"Hey, Sarah, have you heard from the boys in the last few days?" Bobby asked as he rolled into the living room, were Sarah was reading.

"Um… no… why?" she asked putting her book down.

Bobby gave a worried look, "Their not answering. Haven't for a couple a days."

"Have you asked Cas?" Sarah asked pulling out her own phone. Bobby shook his head, so Sarah dialed Cas' number. "Hey, Cas. It's Sarah. Bobby and I are worried about Sam and Dean and wanted to know if you have heard from them. Call me or pop in to Bobby's."

A few minutes later, Cas appeared in the middle of the living room.

"What's the situation?' He asked abruptly, startling Sarah.

"Cas! I swear I'm gonna make you a little bell to wear!" Sarah shouted at him.

Cas gave her a curious look then said, "You called about Dean and Sam."

Sarah rolled her eyes then said, "Bobby and I haven't heard from them in a few days and we can't reach them. Have you heard from them? I'm getting worried."

"No." Cas said with a furrowed brow. "Are you sure they're just not busy?"

Sarah narrowed her eyes at Cas. Dean had obviously been talking to him. "They wouldn't have ignored Bobby this much. Now are you going to help me find them or are you going to stand there looking stupid?" She asked picking up her bag.

Cas sighed, "Where too?"

"Wellington, Ohio." She said.

Once in Wellington, Cas and Sarah set about finding the boys. Sarah immediately started looking through the boys research and Cas started searching the town for any clues.

"A trickster! Oh come on!" Sarah yelled once she realized. Her phone started buzzing right then. "Hey, Cas. You find anything?"

"I found the impala. It's outside an abandoned warehouse a couple miles east of town." Cas said.

"Do you see any sign of them?"

"No, but there is something here that doesn't seem right."

"That'll be the Trickster. That's what Sam and Dean were hunting. Continue scouting around the warehouse and I'll be there soon. Don't go in without me." She said before hanging up and running for the door. She got outside and realized she didn't have a way to get there and tried calling Cas back but only got his voicemail.

"That stupid idjit!", she muttered running in the direction of the warehouse. She found a car on her way and 'borrowed' it to get to the warehouse faster. Once there she found the impala but Cas wasn't there. She unlocked the trunk of the impala and grabbed a wooden stake then cautiously walked inside.

She searched the wide open room that was over grown and falling apart. She slowly made her way to the back where a couple of rooms still stood. The first room was empty. As she neared the next room she heard slight of movement. She edged the door open slowly to reveal a pile of broken office furniture. She stepped slowly inside and heard the sound again. She rounded the pile and found Dean bound, slowly regaining consciousness.

"Dean?" Sarah said rushing to his side. "Dean?"

"…Sarah?... Is it you?" he asked as she worked to untie his restraints.

"Yeah it's me, ya big oaf. Now what happened? Where's Sam?"

"I don't know, I was hit from behind. Thank God you found me. I've been here for days." He said pulling her into a strong hug.

"Dean… Dean…" she said trying to pull away. "What has gotten into you? You know the rule." She said finally pulling back enough to look at his face.

"Oh, forget the stupid rules, baby." He said before pulling her in for a passionate kiss. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her startled frame close then pushed them down to the floor.

She pushed him away enough to say, "What is going on with you?" he moved to kiss down her neck and started to unbutton her shirt. "Dean, stop. Dean." She said strongly before he reclaimed her lips.

Sarah felt around the floor until she found her stake and slowly brought it up until the point was against his chest. He pulled away a little.

"What's going on, Baby?" he asked.

"Get off me." Sarah said gruffly.

He smirked a little and said, "I thought this was what you wanted. Now come here. I know you like it dirty." He then moved to kiss her again while pushing the stake away.

She quickly head butted him, pushing him off of her and scooted away.

"What have you done with Sam and Dean?" she asked holding up the stake defensively.

"What are you talking about? I am Dean." He said standing up.

"No. You're the Trickster. Now where are they? Tell me… or…"

"Or what? You'll stake me?" he asked then morphed into his true form. Sarah readied herself for a fight. He laughed at her, "Oh sweetheart, that's so cute. You think you can actually fight me?"

"You shouldn't under estimate me." She warned.

"I like you, Sarah. You're a fighter. Too bad, I can't stay and see more of that fire in you. And trust me I do…" he said, running his gaze over her body. "but I'm needed elsewhere. And I can't have you go running off…" he swiped his hand in the air and the stake flew out of her hand. He gestured with his other hand and she flew back against the wall hard. "I'll be back for you, later." He said raising his eyebrows a few times. Then he vanished, leaving her pinned to the wall.

"Get back her you spineless, Dick!" she yelled but he didn't reappear.

A few hours later, she was still pinned to the wall when she heard voices coming from the main room of the warehouse. She must have blacked out because it sounded like the voices had been there a while.

"Why do you think I've always taken such an interest in you? Because from the moment Dead flipped on the lights around here, we knew it was all gonna end with you. Always." The trickster said.

"No. That's not gonna happen." Dean growled.

"I'm sorry. But it is." The trickster said. "Guys. I wish this were a TV show. Easy answers, endings wrapped up in a bow… but this is real, and it's gonna end bloody for all of us. That's just how it's gotta be." Pause. "So. Boys. Now what? We stare at each other for the rest of eternity?"

"Well, first of all, you're gonna bring Sarah and Cas back from wherever you stashed them." Dean growled.

"Oh am I."

"Yeah. Or we're going to dunk you in some holy oil and deep-fry ourselves an archangel." Dean threatened.

There was a pause then Sarah was ported from her invisible restraints to next to Sam, falling into him. Cas appeared behind Dean. Sam quickly put his arm around her and kept her from falling.

"Sarah, you okay?" Dean asked over his shoulder.

She nodded saying a hoarse, "Yeah." While zipping up her jacket, concealing her unbuttoned shirt.

"Cas, you okay?" he asked looking back at Cas.

"I'm fine." Cas said gruffly, "Hello, Gabriel."

"Hey, bro. How's the search for Daddy going? Let me guess. Awful." Gabriel said. Cas glared at him. Gabe then looked over at Sarah, "Hey, there sweetie. Miss me?" then he winked.

"Okay, we're out of here. Come on, Sam." Dean said, turning and walking toward the door.

"Uh, Okay. Guys?" Gabriel said.

Sam turned and followed Dean, still holding onto Sarah.

"So, so what? Huh?" Gabriel tried again. Cas turned and followed the others. "You're just gonna, you're just gonna leave me here forever?" Gabriel yelled.

Dean stopped and looked back at Gabriel. "No. We're not, cause we don't screw with people the way you do. And for the record? This isn't about some prize fight between your brothers or some destiny that can't be stopped. This is about you being too afraid to stand up to your family." Dean then pulled the fire alarm causing the sprinklers to go off. "Don't say I never did anything for you." Then he walked out the door. Sam and Sarah not too far behind him.

"All that stuff he was spouting in there, you think it was the truth?" Dean asked as Sam helped Sarah into the backseat of the impala.

"I think he believes it." Sam answered.

"So what do we do?" Dean asked.

"I don't know."

"Well I'll tell you one thing. Right now I wish I was back in a TV show." Dean admitted.

"Yeah, me too." Sam said before they both got in the impala.

After a few minutes of driving, Dean looked Sarah in the rearview mirror. He saw her rubbing her legs. "You alright?" he asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine. I just desperately need a shower but I'm fine."

"Why? You were only there a little while." Dean questioned.

"What did the Trickster… I mean… Gabriel. What did Gabriel do to you guys? Did he say something about T.V.?" she asked.

"He made us be in different TV shows. It was very annoying." Sam answered.

"Really? Like what?"

"Game show, commercial, sitcom. You name it we probably were in it." Dean answered. "Oh, and uh, Sam had to do a herpes commercial." He added laughing.

"Wow. Really?" Sarah said laughing a little.

"What did he do to you?" Sam asked switching the subject.

Sarah stopped laughing and stuttered, "He, uh, he tried to trick me, but it didn't work out. So he tied me up and I guess went back to messing with you two."

"How'd he try and trick you?" Dean asked.

"What is this 20 questions?" She snapped.

Dean and Sam gave her wide eyed, shocked expressions. Dean pulled the car over and turned to face her.

"Oh, you now have our undivided attention." Dean said sarcastically.

"Dean…" Sam said trying to intervene.

"No, I want to hear this." Dean replied.

"I don't want to talk about it." She muttered.

"Not good enough. What did he do to you?"

"Dean…" Sam tried again.

"No, Sam." Dean said to quiet Sam then looked at Sarah, "I'm all ears."

"Dammit Dean! He pretended to be you!" she yelled with tears glistening her eyes.

"He what?"

"I walked into the room and found you tied up barely conscious. I untied you and tried to assess the situation but then you were on me. Kissing me and holding me. I knew deep down it wasn't really you but there was a brief moment when I didn't care." She said, staring at the floor, tears streaming down her face.

"He kissed you?" Dean growled.

"Yeah. And he nearly got my shirt off too." She spat, unzipping her jacket to reveal her unbuttoned shirt.

"He what?" Dean growled again, as veins started popping out on his neck.

"Oh, like you care." She muttered, glaring at him.

Dean almost climbed over his seat to get at her, his anger about to boil over. Sam grabbed him and helped to calm Dean some.

"Sarah… you said that you knew he wasn't Dean. How did you know that?" Sam asked.

Sarah looked over at Sam then back down at the floor, more tears flowing down her face. "He didn't kiss me like Dean did. And trust me after kissing future Dean, I now know exactly what his kisses are like and that was not it… Plus, he called me baby." She admitted. Dean looked back at her with a curious look. "You only call the car Baby." She said then added impatiently, "Could we get back to the motel? I'm ready to go back to Bobby's."

"Did you bring a car?" Dean asked.

"No…" Sarah said, thinking, "Cas brought me. Just drop me off there."

"How do you plan on getting to Bobby's?" Dean asked.

"I'll steal a car or take the bus. Don't worry about me. I'll manage."

Just then Sam's phone buzzed.

"What's up?" Dean asked.

"It's a text from Chuck. It's an address and says that it's a life or death situation." Sam said.

"Oh, great." Dean said, "Looks like you're stuck with us a little longer, Buttercup." Then he floored it.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

They flew into a parking space in front of an old fashioned hotel and jumped out of the impala. They started running toward the hotel, when Dean suddenly stopped looking confused.

"Hey, Come on." Sam yelled at Dean. They ran up to the front steps of the hotel and found Chuck. "Chuck! There you are."

"Guys?" Chuck said surprised.

"What's going on?" Dean asked.

"Ah, nothing. You know, I'm just kinda hanging. What are you doing here?" Chuck stammered nervously.

"You told us to come." Dean said.

"Ah, no I didn't."

"Yeah, you did. You texted me, this address, life or death situation. Any of this ring a bell?" Sam asked.

"I didn't send you a text." Chuck stated.

"We drove all night." Dean growled.

"If you didn't send it, then who did?" Sarah asked.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand what could…" Chuck started saying then seemed to realize something. "… oh no."

"What?" Dean asked.

"Sam! You made it!" a girl squealed from the top of the stairs.

Sam turned to look at her and said, "Oh, ah, … Becky … right?"

She immediately ran down to them saying, "Oh, you remembered… You been thinking about me?"

"I…" Sam stammered not knowing what to say.

"It's okay. I can't get you out of my head either." She said smirking. Sarah immediately glared at Becky.

"Becky, did you take my phone?" Chuck asked.

"I just borrowed it from your pants." She answered.

"Becky…" Chuck said.

"What? They're going to want to see it." Becky exclaimed.

"See what?" Sam and Dean asked in unison.

"Oh My God! I love it when they talk at the same time!" Becky exclaimed.

"Hey Chuck? Come on pal, it's show time." A man holding a clip board said, at the top of the stairs. Becky excitedly ran up the stairs.

"Guys. I'm sorry. For everything." Chuck said before walking up the stairs.

Dean and Sam traded confused looks then followed up the stairs. Sarah sighed then slowly followed them.

Sarah walked in a minute after the boys to see a man walk by wearing a scarecrow costume. "What the hell?" she muttered.

"Uh-oh. It's Sam & Dean. I'm in trouble now." The scarecrow man said sarcastically. "Have fun you two. Haaahh!" He jiggled his scythe in Sam's face then walked away laughing.

"What?" Dean mumbled confused more than ever.

They scanned the room to see it was filled with people dressed as every monster they'd ever fought, bloody Mary, clowns, people with black eyes. There was a skinny woman dressed as Bobby, a guy dressed as Ash. There were a few tables of merchandise with the Impala on coffee cups, Chuck's books and more. Sarah stood wide eyed at everything and started snapping pictures on her phone.

"Becky, what is this?" Sam asked.

"It's awesome! A Supernatural convention, the first ever." She answered excitedly.

Sam gave another bitch face while Dean still looked totally confused. Sarah on the other hand looked like she was about to burst into laughter.

"What are you so happy about?" Dean asked after noticing Sarah's expression.

"Hmmm?... Oh come on. You don't find some of this funny?" she said looking at him, "I mean, can't you just imagine Bobby's face, when I show him this?" she asked showing the pic of a female Bobby.

Sam walked away very irritated. Dean also looked ready to explode. "No. It is not funny." He said then followed Sam into the convention hall. Sarah rolled her eyes and followed along.

"Welcome to the first annual Supernatural Convention. At 3:45 in the Magnolia room we have the panel, 'Frightened little boy, the secret life of Dean'. And at 4:30 there's the 'Homoerotic subtext of Supernatural.'" The convention manager said into the mic.

Sarah tried to contain her laughter, especially after seeing the boys eyebrows rise almost clear off their faces in surprise.

"Oh, and of the course the big hunt starts at 7 pm sharp." The convention manager continued. Cheers and applause erupted from the audience. "But right now, right now I'd like to introduce the man himself, the creator, the writer of the Supernatural books. The one, the only, Carver Edlund!"

Massive applause and cheering broke out as Chuck timidly walked onto the stage.

"Ok. Ok good, this isn't nearly as awkward as I…" Chuck cleared his throat. "Dry mouth." He then grabbed a bottle of water and took a few long gulps. "Ok. Uh… ahem. So I guess… questions?"

Every hand in the room went up, Chuck gave a startled look and pointed to a skinny man in the front row. "Uh… you?"

"Hey, Mr. Edlund. Uh… big fan. I was just wondering, where'd you come up with Sam and Dean in the first place?"

Chuck glanced back as Sam and Dean nervously, "Oh, ah I… it just came to me."

Dean pursed his lips and both boys looked very perturbed. Hands shot into the air again.

"Ok. Yeah. The hook man." Chuck said choosing a person.

"Ah yeah. Why in every fight scene, Sam and Dean are having their gun knocked away by the bad guy? Why don't they keep it on some kind of bungee?" hook man asked.

Sam and Sarah gave interested looks as Dean continued to look pissed.

"I… yeah, I really don't know." Chuck stammered.

"Ja, follow up. Why can't Sam and Dean be telling that Ruby is evil? I mean she is clearly manipulating Sam into some kind of moral lapse. It's obvious, nien?" Hook man asked.

Now Sam looked pissed while Dean turned thoughtfully, to Sam.

"Hey! If you don't like the books don't read 'em Fritz!" Becky yelled walking down a row of chairs.

"Ok. Ok. Just… okay. It's okay. So next, question." Chuck said then picked another person.

"Um… Why did you create the character Sarah? I mean… she's in a few of the books and only ever manages to screw things up or be annoying?" the girl asked.

"Um…"

"And why would Dean have feelings for her?" the girl persisted.

"I… um… well…" Chuck stammered as he spared a glance at Sarah, who was turning redder by the second. "Well, you don't get much choice in who you love, now do you." He said with a nervous laugh. "Um… next question. You."

"Yeah, at the end of the last book, Dean goes to hell. So, what happens next?"

Chuck looked once more at Sam and Dean, then said, "Thanks to a wealthy Scandinavian investor, we're going to start publishing again."

The whole room erupted into applause. The whole room except for three upset hunters.

A little while later, Sarah sat at the bar while Dean and Sam confronted Chuck. She had listened to numerous people, about what they liked about the series and disliked about the series, most especially their dislike of Sarah. So she drank and drank.

"Don't you think you've had enough?" dean asked sitting beside her.

"Why? I'm apparently useless to you guys. There's no point to me at all." She said finishing off her glass of scotch.

Dean sat there for a moment trying to decide what to say. "Sarah…"

"Don't. I know you've asked those type of questions before. I know you really don't like having me around anymore. It's been weird for so long. Too long. You two would be better off without me." She rambled.

"Sarah, you're just drunk. Let's get you up in bed, okay? You'll feel better in the morning." Dean said helping her stand up.

"Why do you care, Dean?"

"Let's leave the questions for when your sober. Okay?" he said as they neared Sam.

"What's going on?" Sam asked as he eyed Becky, warily across the room.

"Someone's about three sheets to the wind." Dean explained. "Gonna go put her in bed, be back in a few." Dean started to push Sarah along but she held her stance. He looked over at her and saw she was glaring at Becky. "Come on, Sarah."

"Wait a second." She said before throwing her arms around Sam, giving him a big hug. "Hug me." She whispered. He awkwardly wrapped his arms around her. She then kissed his cheek.

"Alright, alright. You've had your fun. Now it's past your bed time, ya lush." Dean said pulling her away from Sam. Sarah looked back and saw Becky fuming with jealousy.

Once up in her room, Dean exploded, "What were you thinking?"

"What can't a girl have a little fun?"

"Not while we're on a case." Dean scolded, "In case you missed it, this place is actually haunted."

"Oh lighten up." Sarah said moving passed him.

"You've lost control. Seriously. What was that down there? Marking your territory?" Dean growled grabbing her arm.

Sarah looked up at him, "What are you jealous that I showed Sam a little affection and not you?" She rolled her eyes at him. "I was just trying to annoy Becky. Her crush on Sam is just too much. I had to do something."

Dean just stared down at her. "I'm going to get back to work. Just stay here and salt the door and windows. We'll talk about this in the morning."

He walked toward the door but Sarah stopped him, "Dean wait." She pulled him into a hug then placed two kisses on his cheek. "There, feel better, grumpy?" she asked pulling back slowly to look at him. He looked at her a moment before roughly grabbing a hold of her and pushing her up against the wall. He held her there, his breath ragged.

He moved to kiss her but stopped about a millimeter from her lips. He let out a growl as he released her and stormed out of the room. "We'll talk later."

She rolled her eyes before saying, "Promises, promises."

The next morning, while the boys were saying their goodbyes, Sarah quickly grabbed her bag from the impala and began to walk toward the town. After a few minutes her phone started buzzing.

"Where the hell are you?" Dean growled.

"I'm long gone." She said sadly as she ducked into the woods.

"Come on. Cut the crap. We got a lead on the colt. So suck it up and tell me where you are."

"Good luck Dean. I'm sorry, I can't help. Not that I ever really help." She mumbled. "Things should go better without me there to mess things up for you."

"Wait. Sarah!"

"Goodbye Dean." She whispered then hung up as he let out an angry growl.


	20. Chapter 20

So sorry! I forgot to upload the last two chapters Of part 2.

Chapter 20

Sarah spent the next few weeks searching for a descent place to call home, at least for a little while. She didn't call or talk to any hunters. She just worked on staying below the radar.

Then one day while shopping at the local supermarket, her phone buzzed unexpectedly.

"Cas? What's wrong? Why are you calling me?" She worriedly asked unable to let it go to voicemail.

"There is a situation. I need your help." He said in his usual monotone voice.

"No. I'm sorry. I'm out."

"You don't understand. This affects your past and future, as much as the Winchesters. They can't do it without you."

"What?"

"Where are you?"

"No. They don't need me, they never do. I'll just end up in the way." She mumbled.

"Sarah, I don't have time for this. Where are you?" he said frustrated.

"Cas, I really can't. I'm sorry." She said before hanging up.

He tried calling back but she ignored it and continued shopping until someone grabbed her arm. Before she could spin around to punch the person who grabbed her, two fingers were pressed to her forehead and she was ported to an unfamiliar motel room.

"Dammit Cas! What the hell?!" she yelled before the feeling in her legs went out and someone caught her. Looking up she saw it was Dean that had caught her. "Dean…"

She saw his expression harden when he noticed it was her "Sarah?" he said before letting her drop on one of the beds. "What are you doing here? What is she doing here?" he growled walking to the other side of the room. Sarah tore her eyes away from Dean to see Cas moving about the room.

Cas ignored them for a moment as he placed a couple of jars of holy oil into a bag along with his angel-killing knife. "She is here because we need her." He said tiredly. "Ready?"

Sam helped Sarah stand up then took the bag from Cas and put it over his shoulder. "Not really." He said.

"Bend your knees." Dean advised Sam.

"Wait! I didn't agree to any of this!" Sarah yelled but Cas grabbed her hand and placed it on his shoulder. Then quickly touched both of the boys foreheads.

"Get out of the street!" an angry driver yelled.

Sam, Dean and Sarah looked around and found that they were definitely in another time. Dean grabbed Sarah's arm and pulled her to the sidewalk just before another car nearly ran them over.

"Did we make it?" Sam asked joining them.

"Make it where?" Sarah asked.

"Unless they're bringing Pintos back into production, I… uh, I'd say yes." Dean answered as he scanned the area, completely ignoring Sarah.

"Cas?" Sam mumbled after spotting him collapsed against the nearest car. They all hurried over to him.

"Hey." Dean said kneeling next to him.

"Hey… hey… hey…" Sam said trying to keep Cas from getting up.

"Take it easy. Are you alright?" Dean asked as Sarah kneeled in front of Cas and placed a hand on his check.

"I'm fine. I'm much better than I expected." Cas said weakly while looking at his hands. He then started coughing up blood before passing out.

"Cas?" Sam and Sarah said together.

Sam put his hand in front of Cas' mouth. "He's breathing. Sort of. What do we do?"

"Dammit Cas!" Dean growled.

Sarah did a quick scan of the area to make sure no one had noticed them and spotted a motel nearby. "Here, help me lift him up." Sarah instructed.

"What? Why?" Dean asked.

"There's a motel over there. We can get him a room to sleep this off." She said trying to lift Cas up herself. Dean rolled his eyes and helped her carry Cas into the motel.

A few minutes later, they rejoined Sam at a phone booth.

"So I paid for Cas for five nights up in the, uh, honeymoon suite. I told the manager, 'Do not disturb, no matter what.' You know what he said to me? 'Yeah, don't sweat it. Want to buy some dope.'" Dean said to Sam chuckling. Sam snorted, "Dope. We ought to stick around here, buy some stock in Microsoft."

"Yeah, we might have to if Cas doesn't recover. Is he alright?" Sam asked.

"What do I look like- Dr. Angel Medicine Woman? He'll wake up. He's, you know, tough for a little nerdy dude with wings." Dean said.

"If he landed like that, hopefully, so did Anna. Should buy us some time." Sam said eyeing Sarah.

"Anna? What's Anna have to do with this?" Sarah asked only to be ignored again.

"So, did you find them?" Dean asked.

"Find who?" Sarah asked.

"Yeah, uh, the Winchesters. Four-eight-five Robin tree." Sam said holding up a torn phone book page.

"Let's go pop in on the folks." Dean said, starting to walk down the street.

Sarah grabbed Sam's arm before he could follow and said, "Sam Winchester you tell me what is going on right now. Why are we here?"

"Yeah…" Sam said then preceded to fill her in on what he knew as they followed Dean.

"So Anna is trying to kill your parents? Kill John?" Sarah said in shock. "I'm so sorry, Sambo. Of course I'll help, not that I'm really that helpful." She mumbled.

Sam stopped abruptly. "What? Sarah you can't honestly believe that."

"Why shouldn't I? It's true. I always end up getting in the way."

"Is that why you left again?" Sam asked putting his hand on her arm.

"Of course it is. I finally realized how useless I am to you two." She said before moving to continue walking.

Sam tightened his hold on her arm, stopping her. "Sarah, that is complete bull and deep down you know it. You do more for us than your know."

"Yeah? Like what?" Sarah said, staring up at Sam.

"Are you two ladies coming or what?" Dean yelled back to them, impatiently.

Sarah and Sam continued to stare at each other a moment before Sarah pulled her arm from Sam's grasp and closed the distance to Dean and his newly stolen car.

Dean pulled up to his parents' house and parked the stolen car. Sam immediately got out of the car and crossed the street.

"Sam. Sam." Dean said stopping Sam from walking up to the house. "Sam, Sarah wait."

"Dean, Anna could be here any second." Sam said.

"What exactly are we gonna march up there and tell 'em?" Dean asked.

"Uh, the truth." Sam stated.

"Oh now that's a great idea." Sarah said sarcastically.

"What, that their sons are back from the future to save them from an angel? Gone Terminator? Come on. Those movies haven't even come out yet." Dean argued.

"Well, then tell her demons are after 'em. I mean, she thinks you're a hunter, right?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, a hunter who disappeared right when her dad died. She's gonna love me." Dean said then thought for a moment, "Just follow my lead." He then grabbed Sarah's hand and walked up to the door and rang the doorbell.

"Hi, Mary." Dean said sheepishly when she opened the door.

"You can't be here." Mary said looking upset and shocked.

"I'm sorry if this is a bad time." Dean added.

"You don't understand. I'm not…" Mary said then looked at Sam warily as he stared at her, "I don't do that anymore. I have a normal life now. You have to go."

"Good luck with that." Sarah mumbled as Mary moved to close the door.

Dean held out an arm to stop the door, "I'm sorry, but this is important, okay?"

The door opened wider to reveal John. Sarah had to fight the tears that wanted to fill her eyes at the sight of the young John Winchester. The man who saved her and then raised her as his own.

"Sorry, sweetie, they're just…" Mary started to say.

"Mary's cousins." Dean finished for her. "Yeah, we couldn't stop through town without swinging by and saying 'hey', now could we?" he held out a hand to shake John's hand. "Dean."

"You look familiar." John said.

"Really? Yeah, you do, too, actually, you know? We must have met sometime. Small towns, right? Got to love 'em." Dean covered.

"I'm John." He said then held his hand out to Sam who stared a moment then shook it.

"This is Sam." Dean explained when it was obvious that Sam was to stunned to speak.

"Sam. Uh, Mary's father was a Sam." John said. Sam only nodded and smiled.

"Uh, it's a family name." Dean replied.

"You okay, pal? You look a little spooked." John asked.

"Oh. Oh, yeah. Just a… long trip." Sam managed to say.

"He's a little shy." Sarah said trying to excuse Sam's behavior. John and Mary looked over at her, "Hi, I'm Sarah, their adopted sister."

"Well, they were just on their way out." Mary said.

"What? They just got here. Real happy to meet folks from Mary's side. Please come on in for a beer." John said.

"Twist my arm." Dean said earning a glare from Mary.

They all filed in and sat in the living room as Mary retrieved the beers. Sam, Sarah and Dean sat on the couch as John and Mary sat across from them in the arm chairs. They sat in uncomfortable silence as Sam continued to stare at Mary.

"Are you sure you're okay, Sam?" John asked.

"W…oh. Yeah, yeah. Um, I'm just um..." Sam stumbled, before looking back at Mary and adding, "You are so beautiful."

John leaned forward protectively. "He means that in a non-weird, wholesome family kind of way." Dean said quickly as Sarah grabbed Sam's hand, snapping him out of his daze.

"Yeah, right." Sam added, realizing what he'd said.

"We haven't seen Mary in… in quite some time, and see, she's the spitting image of our mom. I mean, it's… it's…" Dean said.

"Eerie." Sam finished.

"So, how are you guys related?" John asked.

"You know, uh, distantly." Dean replied.

"So… so you knew Mary's parents?" John asked.

"Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Mary's dad was, uh, pretty much like a grandpa to us." Dean answered.

"Oh, that was tragic… that heart attack." John said reaching for Mary's hand.

"Yes, it was." Dean said.

"So, uh, what are you guys doing in town, anyway?" John asked.

"Uh, business. You know." Dean answered.

"Oh, yeah? What line of work?"

"Plumbing." Sam answered just as Dean said, "Scrap Metal."

Mary stood up and said, "Oh, gosh. It's almost seven. I hate to be rude, but I've got to get dinner ready."

"Maybe they could stay." John said. Just then the phone began to ring. "Uh, look, please stay. You know, it would mean the world to me. I haven't met much of Mary's side of the family." John said then got up to answer the phone.

"You have to leave. Now." Mary said as soon as John was out of the room.

"Okay, just listen." Dean started saying.

"No, you listen. Last time I saw you, a demon killed my parents. Now you waltz in here like you're family? Whatever you want-no. Leave me alone." Mary said sternly.

"You and John are in danger." Sam blurted out.

"What are you talking about?" Mary asked.

"Something's coming for you." Dean said.

"Demon?" Mary answered.

"Not exactly." Dean said.

"Well, what then?" Mary asked.

"It's kind of hard to explain, okay? It's – it's…" Dean tried to find the words.

"An angel." Sam blurted out.

"Sam!" Sarah scolded.

Mary laughed, "What? There's no such thing."

"I wish, but they're twice as strong as demons. And bigger dicks." Dean explained.

"You can say that again." Sarah muttered.

"And why would an angel want to kill us?"

"It's a long story, and we'll tell you the whole thing, but right now, you've got to trust us, and we got to go. Look at my face and tell me if I'm lying to you." Dean said.

"Mary, please." Sarah pleaded.

"Okay. Where do we go?" Mary asked.

"Out of here. We got to move now, though." Dean said.

"Okay. But what do I tell John?" Mary asked, tears in her eyes.

"Just tell him…" Dean started to say before Sarah interrupted him.

"Wait… John? Are you here?" Sarah asked, after noticing how quiet the house was.

Dean hurriedly walked to the hallway looking for John. Mary followed closely behind him and found a note John had left.

_'Back in 15_

_ J'_

"Oh great." Dean muttered.

They tracked John to the garage he worked at and arrived in time to see Anna flung John over a car. She turned around sensing another presence and spotted Dean behind her with the angel killing knife. Anna grabbed Dean's wrist and neck. Dean then tried to pry Anna's hand off of his neck.

"I wish I could say it's good to see you, Anna." Dean said.

"You too, Dean." Anna said before throwing him out a window.

Sarah ran up and hit Anna from behind with a wrench. Anna whirled around and flung Sarah over the car by John.

Mary then grabbed a crowbar and stabbed Anna in the heart with it. Anna choked up a little blood and pulled the crowbar out. "Sorry. It's not that easy to kill an angel."

"No." Sam said from the other side of the room. "But you can distract 'em." He pressed his palm to the sigil he'd painted on the wall causing Anna to disappear in a blinding white light.

All five of them were loaded up in the impala, Sam, Dean and Sarah scrunched in the backseat with Mary in the passenger and John driving.

"Monsters. Monsters?" John said unbelievingly.

"Yes." Mary said quietly.

"Monsters are real." John stated.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know how…" Mary tried saying.

"And you fight them? All of you?" John asked.

"Yeah." Sam answered.

"Unfortunately." Sarah mumbled.

"How long?"

"All my life. John, just try to understand…" Mary said before Dean cut her off.

"She didn't exactly have a choice…"

"We never do." Sarah added.

"Shut up, all of you! Look, not another word, or so help me, I will turn this car around!" John yelled.

Everyone fell silent.

"Wow. Awkward family road trip." Dean whispered.

"No kidding." Sam whispered back.

"You two are such dorks." Sarah mumbled.

After a little while, they pulled up to a normal looking house in the middle of nowhere.

"Place has been in the family for years. Devil's trap. Pure iron fixtures, of course. Um, there should be salt and holy water in the pantry, knives, guns." Mary stated as they walked inside.

"All that stuff will do, is piss it off." Sam said.

"So, what will kill it? Or slow it down, at least?" Mary asked.

"Not much." Sam answered.

"Great." Mary said with a nervous laugh.

"He said not much, not nothing. We packed." Dean said putting his bag on the table. "If we put this up and she comes close we beam her right off the starship."

"Mmm…" Mary mumbled.

"This is holy oil. It's kind of like a, like a devil's trap for angels. Come on. I'll show you how it works." Sam said, then lead Mary to the other room.

"I'll go check the perimeter." Sarah said wanting to get away from all of the tension. She turned to leave but Dean caught her arm. "Dean, I can handle it." She said rolling her eyes at him.

"Just be careful." He said then let her go. "And don't go too far."

She walked outside and took a quick pass around the property, checking for anything unusual or for any weaknesses. She then walked back inside and started helping Mary.

"So… Sarah… you're Dean's… sister?" Mary asked.

"Adopted. Sort of… His father saved my life after my parents were killed. He took me in and raised me as his own." Sarah explained.

"So are you and Dean…" Mary asked causing Sarah looked up at her, just as Dean walked in the room. Mary narrowed her eyes at him, "Okay. You said you'd explain everything when we had a minute. We have a minute. Why does an angel want me dead?"

"'Cause they're dicks." Dean chided.

Mary laughed, "Not good enough. I didn't even know they existed, and now I'm a target?"

"It's complicated." Dean said.

"Fine." Mary said standing up. "All ears."

"You're just gonna have to trust me, okay?" Dean said.

"I've been trusting you all day." Mary said.

"It's kind of hard to believe." Dean stated.

"Alright, then. I'm walking out the door." Mary said turning to leave.

"Just tell her Dean." Sarah interjected, touching his arm. "Or I will."

Dean let out a sigh then bluntly said, "I'm your son."

"What?"

"I'm your Son. Sorry. I don't know how else to say it. We're from the year two thousand and ten. An angel zapped us back there. Not the one that attacked you, friendlier." Dean explained.

"You can't expect me to believe that."

"Our names our Dean and Sam Winchester. We're named after your parents. When I would get sick, you would make me tomato-rice soup, because that's what your mom made you. And instead of a lullaby, you would sing 'Hey, Jude' cause that's your favorite Beatles song."

"I… I don't believe it… No." Mary said, shaking her head and crying.

"Mary…" Sarah whispered soothingly as she put her arm around her.

"I'm sorry, but it's true." Dean said.

"I raise my kids to be hunters?"

"No. No, you didn't" Dean stated.

"How could I do that to you?" Mary said through her tears.

"You didn't do it. Because you're dead." Dean said bluntly.

"Dean." Sarah warned.

Mary's eyes widened, "What? What happened?"

"Yellow-eyed demon. He killed you, and- John became a hunter to get revenge. He raise us in this life."

"He saved me, then raise me like his own as well." Sarah added.

"Listen to me, a demon comes into Sam's nursery exactly six months after he's born. November second, nineteen eighty-three. Remember that date. And whatever you do, do not go in there. You wake up that morning and you take Sam and you run." Dean advised.

"That's not good enough, Dean." Sam said from the doorway. "Wherever she goes, the demon's gonna find her. Find me."

"Well, then what?" Dean snapped.

"She can leave Dad. That's what. You got to leave John." Sam said.

Sarah sat down at the weight of what Sam was suggesting. Tears forming in her eyes.

"What?" Mary exclaimed.

"When this is all over, walk away and never look back." Sam continued.

"So we're never born." Dean said then looked to Mary, "He's right."

"I can't. You're saying that you're my children, and now you're saying…"

"You have no other choice. There's a big difference between dying and never being born. And trust me, we're okay with it, I promise you that." Dean elaborated.

Sarah looked up at Dean, then quickly left the room as they continued to talk. She almost ran into John in the hallway. He had been listening to the others conversation.

"Oh, hey." She said through her tears.

He looked at her a moment then asked, "All that out there true?"

"Yeah. It all is. I'm sorry." She said flatly.

"So their my sons?"

"Yeah."

"And you're my daughter?"

"Sort of. You saved me from the monsters that killed my parents and then raise me as your own. I owe you so much." She said as more tears formed. "Whatever happens today, I just want to say 'Thank you'. I never managed to say that to you before…" Then she hugged him quickly before walking away from him.

She walked into the kitchen to try and clear her head but a moment later a long high-pitched noise filled the air. Sarah covered her ears as the sound got louder and louder before the windows shattered.

The noise stopped and the door nearest her burst opened and an angel walked in.

"Who the hell are you?" Dean asked.

"I'm Uriel."

Dean backed away and Sarah slowly tried to make her way to the group.

"Oh, come on." Dean growled.

"Go." Sam said to Mary and John but turned to see that Anna was blocking the other exit.

"Here goes nothin'" Dean said then launched an attack on Uriel while Sam attacked Anna. Sarah ran and tried to keep Mary and John to the side. The brothers both got thrown aside. As Sarah stepped in front of Mary and John. John took Sarah by surprise and pulled her behind him and moved to grab the angel knife that Dean had dropped.

Anna caught him and threw him out the window before Sarah could help.

"John!" Mary yelled. Sarah fought to hold her back.

Sam tried to grab the sword but Anna grabbed a fixture from the wall and stabbed him. Sam began to bleed profusely.

"Sam!" Sarah yelled at the same time that Dean yelled, "Sammy!"

Sam slumped to the floor. Dead.

"Sam!" Dean yelled again.

Anna turned her attention back to Sarah and Mary. "I'm really sorry." Anna said.

"Stay behind me." Sarah instructed to Mary as she tried to figure out what to do.

"Anna." John said in a deeper than normal voice.

"Michael." Anna said surprised, noticing that John was now possessed by an angel.

John/Michael placed a hand on Anna's shoulder, making her immediately burst into flames, screaming. Sarah protectively shielded Mary from the blinding light.

John/Michael turned to Uriel once Anna was gone.

"Michael, I didn't know." Uriel said with hands raised.

"Goodbye, Uriel." John/Michael said before snapping his fingers causing Uriel to disappear.

"What did you do to John?" Mary asked trying to get out from behind Sarah.

"John is fine." John/Michael said.

"Who… What are you?" Mary asked.

"Shhhh…" he said moving to touch Mary.

Sarah quickly tried to punch him, but he deflected her punch. He grabbed her and held her back against his chest. The reached over and placed two fingers on Mary's forehead causing her to fall to the ground unconscious.

Sarah struggled against John/Michael trying to get out of his grasp.

"Let her go!" Dean growled.

John/Michael looked at Dean but whispered into Sarah's ear. Dean saw a look of pain flash over Sarah's face as fresh tears fell then John/Michael touched her forehead and she disappeared.

"Sarah!" Dean yelled.

Sarah woke up a while later in Sam and Dean's motel room as the boys returned from the store.

"Good you're up." Dean grumbled, trying to hide his worry.

"Nothin' gets past you." Sarah said sarcastically then added, getting up, "Are we back in 2010?"

"Yeah." Sam said as he unwrapped a couple of cups. He looked up into the mirror and said, "Castiel." Before spinning around. He grabbed ahold of Cas to keep him from falling.

"Hey. Hey, hey, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa." Sam said soothingly.

"Cas!" Dean growled as he hurried over to help Cas up.

"We got you." Sam said.

"You son of a bitch. You made it." Dean said.

"I…I did? I'm very surprised." Cas mumbled skeptically before collapsing.

"Whoa! You're okay!" Sam said trying to rouse Cas.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa." Dean said feeling Cas' weight. "Bed?"

"Yeah, yeah." Sam said as they hauled him to the nearest bed and laid him on it.

"Well, I could use that drink now." Dean said reaching for the whiskey bottle.

"Yeah." Sam said picking up the cups and holding them for Dean.

Sarah sat down next to Cas and put her head in her hands.

"You alright?" Dean asked.

"Just peachy." She said looking up at them and Sam handed her a glass. "Thanks."

"Well… this is it." Dean said.

"This is what?" Sam asked.

"Team Free Will. One ex-junkie, one drop-out with six bucks to his name, Mr. Comatose over there and a drama queen that gets her kicks by running away. It's awesome." Dean explained earning an obscene gesture from Sarah.

"It's not funny." Sam said.

Dean took a sip of his drink then said, "I'm not laughing."

Sam sighed, "They all say we'll say yes."

"I know. It's getting annoying." Dean said.

"What if they're right?" Sam asked.

"They're not." Dean said strongly after taking another sip.

"I mean, why, why would we, either of us? But… I've been weak before." Sam said.

"Sam." Dean warned.

"Michael got Dad to say yes." Sam argued.

"That was different. Anna was about to kill Mom." Dean reasoned.

"And if you could save Mom… What would you say?" Sam asked.

"Enough. Both of you." Sarah said making both boys look at her. "Neither of you are going to give in. You hear me? If either of you do, I will find you and kick your ass for being such spineless idiots. And I don't care if it's Lucifer or Michael. I will. And you can count on that." She chugged the rest of her drink and walked outside.

"Hey, wait up." Sam said to Sarah once he was near her outside.

"What Sam?" Sarah asked obviously in a bad mood.

"What's going on with you?" He asked bluntly.

"I'm just so sick of all of this." She said as she returned to walking.

"We're all sick of this, Sarah. It doesn't mean we quit." Sam said following her. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going for a walk. I need to clear my head. In case you didn't realize we just came back from a very bizarre trip." She snapped.

"You're leaving, aren't you? Is this the way it's always going to be? You're just going to keep leaving us? Without even a word?" Sam ranted causing Sarah to stop and look at him.

"I didn't ask to be brought back in to all this. I was doing fine on my own."

"I thought we were family."

Sarah scoffed at him. "Family? Didn't you two just try to get your Mom to not have you? Make it so you never existed?"

"Yeah?" Sam said warily.

"Well did you or that dumbass brother of yours ever think about that? Did you realize that if you never existed, all those people we saved would be dead? That I… wouldn't be here?"

"Of course you wouldn't be here. You'd probably be married with a kid or two."

"No, Sam. I'd be dead." Sarah said staring at his confused face. "I'd be dead because your father would never have been there to save me. So next time you two decide to make a stupid decision like that… think it through." She said sternly then continued walking.

A minute later, Sam called out to her again, "Sarah." He jogged to catch up with her. "Wait." She stopped and looked up at him. "I know we have been insensitive to you. I'm sorry. Last thing I ever wanted to do is to hurt you. Now you might not see us as family anymore but I still see you as my sister. Always have. Always will. Now if we have any chance in hell at winning this thing, we need you with us." He said then pulled her into a hug. "Please stay with us."

Sarah hugged him back then said, "I wasn't going to leave. What's the point? Every time I leave, I get pulled back in. There's always some stupid angel just lying in wait to mess everything up."

Sam smirked a little, "Well, I can't say that I'm sorry about that. We… I miss you." He then led her back to the hotel room.

They spent a few days, recovering from their time travel. It took Cas a day and a half to come around and it didn't help that Sarah slugged him, for dragging her back into this life.

Eventually, they were back on the road, looking for a job. Dean tried a couple of times to talk with Sarah, about anything, but she shot him down every time. He desperately wanted to know what Michael had told her, but she wasn't talking.

They eventually found a case involving a couple who had eaten themselves to death. Once they started investigating another couple committed suicide.

They arrived at the Medical Center to examine the bodies together. As they walked in, they passed a bald man in a business suit and Sam started acting weird.

"You okay?" Dean asked him.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Sam said quickly.

"Agent Marley, you just can't stay away." The Medical Examiner said to Dean as they approached.

"Heard you tagged another double suicide." Dean said.

"Well, I just finished closing them up." The doctor said.

"Dr. Corman, these are my partners, Special Agent Cliff." Dean said introducing Sam then he gestured to Sarah and said, "and Special Agent Tyler."

"Agent Cliff. Agent Tyler. I've finished my prelims. I pulled the organ sets and sent off the tox samples." Dr. Corman explained.

"Great. You mind if we take a look at the bodies?" Sam asked.

"Not at all. But like I said, their… good-and-plenty's are already tupper ware." Dr. Corman joked.

"Super." Sam said.

"Leave the keys with Marty up front. And please, gentleman… refrigerate after opening…" Dr. Corman joked.

"Shall we boys?" Sarah asked as she walked to the refrigerator.

After a little while, they had all of the organs out on a table and were examining them for any clues.

"Hey…" Dean said handing Sam one of the hearts, "Be my valentine?" he then laughed and turned to look at something else.

"Mature. Dean. Very mature." Sarah mumbled.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a second. These hearts both have identical marks. Check this out. It looks like some kind of letter. Oh, no." Sam said staring at one of the hearts.

"What?" Dean asked.

"Let me see." Sarah said as she moved to get a better look, brushing passed Dean. She tried to ignore the sudden butterfly's that filled her stomach from his close presence. She hadn't felt that feeling in a while.

"I think it's Enochian." Sam said.

"You mean like angel scratches? So you think it's like the tagging on our ribs?" Dean asked.

"Dean, I don't know." Sam said.

"I think it is." Sarah said staring at the symbol. "It has definite similarities to Enochian."

"Ah, hell." Dean mumbled as he pulled out his phone and dialed Cas' number. "Cas, it's Dean. Yeah, room 31-C, basement level… St. James Medical Center."

Cas appeared directly before Dean. "I'm there now."

"Yeah, I get that." Dean said.

"I'm gonna hang up now." Cas said seriously.

Cas walked over to Sam and picked up one of the hearts with his bare hand. "You're right, Sam. These are angelic marks, I imagine you'll find similar marks on the other couples' hearts as well…"

"So, what are they? I mean, what do they mean?" Sam asked.

"It's a mark of union. This man and woman were intended to mate." Cas replied.

"Okay, but who put them there?" Dean asked.

"Well, your people call them 'Cupid'." Cas explained.

"A what?" Sam and Sarah asked.

"What human myth has mistaken for 'Cupid' is actually a lower order of angel. Technically it's a cherub, third class."

"Cherub?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, they're all over the world. There are dozens of them." Cas said.

Sarah looked over at Dean as he spoke with Cas and Sam. She loved to see him dressed in a suit and tie. And she loved how sexy his ass looked in his very well-fitted pants. Just seeing him wearing that was enough to make her blood to begin to boil. She started to undo some of her shirt buttons to cool off a little, then she realized what she was thinking and said quickly, "Uh… I'll be outside" before fleeing the room.

After a few minutes, the boys walked out to the impala with Cas.

"You okay?" Sam asked as they drove to a restaurant.

"Never better." She answered still unable to get her mind off of Dean.

"So, what, you just happen to know he like the cosmos at this place?" Dean asked Cas.

"This place is a nexus of human reproduction. It's exactly the kind of…" Cas explained as he watched Dean put ketchup on his cheeseburger, "of garden the Cupid will come to... to pollinate."

"Excuse me." Sarah said from her seat next to Dean as she reached across him for the ketchup, slightly brushing her breasts against his arm.

He looked over at her oddly then picked up his cheeseburger, looked at it as Cas' words seeped in, then put it back down uneaten.

"Wait a minute. You're not hungry?" Sam asked skeptically.

"No. What? I'm not hungry?" Dean said with attitude.

Sarah put her hand on Dean's knee and asked, "Are you feeling okay?"

He gave her another weird look.

"Then you're not gonna finish that?" Cas asked taking Dean's burger, but before he took a bite he looked up and said, "He's here."

"Where? I don't see anything." Sam said.

"There." Cas stated pointing to a couple.

"You mean the same-side-of-the-booth couple over there?" Dean asked but jumped slightly as Sarah's hand moved up his thigh as she turned in her seat to see what they were looking at.

"Meet me in the back room." Cas said before disappearing.

Sam stood up and started toward the back room. Dean moved to stand up but Sarah's hand was still securely fastened to his thigh.

"Umm… Do you mind?" Dean asked her.

"Oh, sorry." She said realizing that her hand was still on his leg. She couldn't figure out why she was acting this way. "Uh… I'll be there in a minute." She said then watched as he walked away.

"Get a grip, Sarah!" she mumbled to herself. "You know the rules! You made the stupid, stupid rules!" she then took a few deep breaths, and gulped down some of her beer to help to her steel her feelings. Then got up to join the boys and meet a cupid.

She walked into the room to see a naked man hugging Sam. She tried not to laugh at his uncomfortable expression.

"Is this a fight? Are we in a fight?" Dean growled.

"This is their handshake." Cas replied.

"I don't like it." Dean growled.

"No one likes it." Cas said tiredly.

"Oh! A new person!" Cupid exclaimed, seeing Sarah at the doorway.

"What? No!" She cried out as he pulled her into a bone crushing hug.

"Let me go! That thing better not touch me!" she yelled at him.

He let her go as if nothing had happened. "What can I do for you?" Cupid asked grinning widely.

"Why are you doing this?" Cas asked.

"Doing what?" Cupid asked.

"Your targets—the ones you've marked—they're slaughtering each other." Cas explained.

"What? They are?" Cupid asked shocked.

"Listen, birthday suit, we know, okay? We know you been flittin' around, popping people with your poison arrow, making them murder each other!" Dean said.

Sarah slowly made her way to stand near Dean. She felt some invisible pull, making her gravitate toward him. She didn't even realize that she was doing it.

"What we don't know is why." Cas said.

"You think that I- well, uh… I don't know what to say." Cupid said starting to cry. He walked passed Dean and Sarah to cry by himself. Sam walked closer to Sarah, Dean and Cas.

"Should… should somebody maybe… go talk to him?" Sam asked. They all looked to Sarah.

"What? Just because I have boobs I'm supposed to be comforting? Hell no." She said moving even closer to Dean.

"Yeah, well, give 'em hell, Cas." Dean said pushing Cas in the Cupids direction.

Cas awkwardly stood next to the Cupid and said, "Um… look. We didn't mean to, um… hurt your feelings."

Cupid pulled Cas into a hug, "Love is more than a word to me, you know. I love love. I love it! And if that's wrong, I don't want to be right!"

"Yes, yes. Of course. I, uh… I have no idea what you're saying." Cas said.

"I was just on my appointed rounds. Whatever my targets do after that… that's nothing to do with me. I…. I was following my orders. Please brother. Read my mind. Read my mind, you'll see." Cupid said.

Castiel stared for an intense moment into Cupids eyes then turned to the others and said, "He's telling the truth."

"Jimney Christmas. Thank you." Cupid said relieved.

"Wait, wait, you said- you said you were just following orders?" Dean asked.

"Mm-hmm."

"Whose orders?" Dean asked as Sarah placed her hand in his. He gave her a confused look then returned his focus to Cupid.

"Whose?" Cupid laughed, "Heaven, silly. Heaven."

"Why does heaven care if Harry meets Sally?" Dean asked.

"Oh, mostly they don't. You know, certain bloodlines, certain destines. Oh like yours." Cupid explained.

"What?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, the union of John and Mary Winchester – Very big deal upstairs, top priority arrangement." Cupid explained.

"Are you saying you fixed-up our parents?" Dean asked.

"Well, not me, but… Yeah, well it wasn't easy, either. Ooh, they couldn't stand each other at first. Much like you two. But when we were done with them – perfect couple."

"Perfect?" Dean asked.

"Yeah." Cupid said smugly.

"They're dead!" Dean growled. Sarah tightened her hold on Deans hand.

"I'm sorry, but… the orders were very clear. You and Sam needed to be born. Your parents were just, uh… meant to be. A match made in heaven-heaven." Cupid sang.

Dean punched Cupid with his free hand. "Son of a bitch!" he growled, as he dropped Sarah's hand and held his injured one. Cupid disappeared. "Where is he? Where'd he go?" he yelled, as Sarah gently took his hurt hand and started examining it.

"I believe you upset him." Cas stated.

"Upset him?!" Dean yelled pushing away from Sarah, who was just about to start kissing his hurt hand.

"Dean. Enough!" Sam yelled.

"What?" Dean growled.

"You just punched a Cupid!" Sam yelled back.

"I punched a dick!" Dean yelled.

"Um… Are we gonna talk about what's been up with you lately or not?" Sam asked.

"Or not." Dean said, looking over at Sarah then walking out of the room.

They went back to the motel in silence and continued to do research until all of them eventually passed out. The next day, Sam went to investigate another body at the morgue. Sarah left on an errand and Dean stayed into do more research.

She returned after a while to hear Dean on the phone with Sam.

"Yeah, well, I just went through the police blotter, and counting him, that's eight suicides since Wednesday and 19 od's – That's way out of the seasonal batting average." Dean said into the phone, not paying attention to Sarah. He listened for a moment then said, "Yeah, alright. I'll see you in 10." Then he hung up.

Sarah walked up behind him and started to massage his shoulders. "You're very tense, Dean."

"Oh, I wonder why." He said sarcastically. "I thought we had a no touching rule."

"Rules were meant to be broken." Sarah said leaning down and nibbling on his earlobe.

He let out a low moan and leaned against her a moment before snapping to his senses and moving away.

"What are you doing?" he asked her hurriedly.

"Giving in." She said before she grabbed him and kissed him. "Giving in to what we both want." She moved to kiss him again but he jerked away.

"Sarah, this is hardly the right time for this." Dean said getting frustrated at her constant advances.

"Come on, Dean. Share your love with me." She said unbuttoning her shirt with a smirk.

"No! Stop that!" Dean yelled at her and grabbed her hands to stop her.

She stopped and looked at him sadly. "You don't love me anymore?"

"No. It's not that. It's… you're… come on this isn't you." Dean said frustrated.

"He was right. You don't." She whispered.

"Who was right?" Dean asked.

"Michael."

"Michael? What did he say to you?" Dean pressed.

Sarah looked at the ground for a moment quickly pressing herself against him again and attaching her lips to his neck. "Let's not talk about him, right now."

Dean's breath hitched as she nibbled on his ear. "Sarah…"

"Shhh…" Sarah said reclaiming his lips.

"No." Dean said gruffly, pushing Sarah back forcefully, accidentally pushing her into the nearby dresser. Sarah gave a shocked look then ran out the door, almost knocking Sam down in the process.

"Dude! What the hell happened?" Sam asked walking into the room, "And why was she half naked?"

Sarah stopped outside the door and listened to the boys.

"I don't know. She was coming on to me then talking crazy. Then… coming on to me some more." Dean said lost in thought.

"What? What did she say?"

"I don't know. She kept talking about love, about how I don't love her anymore…, about how Michael was right…"

"Michael?"

"Yeah, I think he said something about me not loving her anymore."

Sam's eyebrows rose, "Was he right?"

Dean was quiet a moment then slowly said, "I'm not sure anymore. I mean, yeah, I love her, she's family but do I Love her? I don't know. Everything's gotten so crazy."

"Just… be careful with her okay?" Sam warned.

Dean looked at what Sam was holding. "What's with the briefcase?" he asked wanting to change the subject.

Sam looked down at the briefcase he was holding and said, "When I was leaving the morgue, I spotted a demon leaving with this. He got away but I managed to get this."

"What the hell does a demon got to do with this, anyway?" Dean asked.

Sarah sat outside the motel room in a trance. Her need for Dean growing more and more. She fought if for as long as she could before her desperation became too much.

She walked into the motel room, ignored by the men and started digging through her bag.

"What are you the hamburglar?" Dean asked Cas.

"I've developed a taste for ground beef." Cas said eating another hamburger.

"Well, have you even tried to stop it?" Dean asked.

"I'm an angel. I can stop anytime I want." Cas said defensively.

Sarah found what she was looking for. She pulled out her gun and checked the bullets.

"Whatever. Everyone ready to roll?" Dean asked then spotted Sarah staring into the barrel of her gun. Tears streaming down her face. "Sarah?... Whatcha doing?" He asked slowly walking toward her.

She looked at him, not lowering the gun and said, "It hurts too much." She then looked back at the gun and started to pull the trigger. Dean and Sam rushed her from different sides. Dean grabbed her while Sam wrestled the gun away from her hands.

"No!" she yelled as fresh tears started to flow.

Sam managed to get the gun from her as she tried desperately to keep it. Once the gun was out of her hands she fought to get away. Dean held her tight until she stopped thrashing. "Please… it hurts so much…" she whispered before Cas places his fingers on her forehead causing her to fall limp in Dean's arms.

Once she was asleep, the three men just stared at her.

"Do you think that Famine is making her go crazy?" Dean asked Cas.

"I think so."

"Great. So what was she hungry for? Sex? Love?" Dean asked.

"You." Sam said strained. "All she's ever wanted was you."

Dean sighed then said, "Alright. We'll deal with this later. Are you ready, Sam?"

Sam looked up at Dean, "Dean… I… um… I can't. I can't go."

"What do you mean?"

"I think it got to me, too, Dean. I think I'm hungry for it…"

"Hungry for what?"

"You know…"

"Demon blood?" Dean asked instantly upset. Sam hung his head. "You got to be kidding me." Dean said then turned to Cas, "You got to get them out of here. You got to beam him to, like Montana. Anywhere but here."

"It won't work. They are already infected. The hunger will just travel with them."

"Well, then, what do we do?" Dean asked.

"You go cut the bastard's finger off." Sam said.

"You heard him." Dean said.

"But, Dean… before you go, you better… you better lock me down…" Sam said then looked at Sarah, "both of us…" but good.

Dean left after chaining Sam and Sarah to the sink in the bathroom.

Sarah woke up the next day handcuffed to a bed in a different room. It took a moment for her to realize she was at Bobby's house but why she was chained up was a mystery. She began to try and free herself.

After a few moments she heard faint sounds of someone screaming. She stilled her movements to try and hear it better. Sam. It was Sam screaming. Sarah quickened her efforts to free herself. She managed to bust the headboard enough to free the chain.

Sam's screams continued downstairs. Sarah got up from the bed, her hands still handcuffed together and searched for a gun. She found one stashed in the closet of the room, then she slowly ventured into the hall and down the stairs. The screaming grew louder as she neared the basement door.

"Let me out of here, please! Help!" she heard Sam yell clearly as she opened the door.

She crept down the stairs but didn't see anyone, so she hurried over to the panic room door.

"Sam? Sam, are you okay?" she asked moving to unlock the door.

"Wait." Dean growled, grabbing her shoulder and her gun.

She reacted defensively and elbowed him in the stomach. Then pressed her heel on his toes.

"Ow! Sarah stop! It's me!" he groaned then turned her around and pressed her against the wall.

"Dean?" she asked. "What's going on? I woke up handcuffed to the bed, and now I find Sam's locked in the panic room. What happened?"

"You don't remember?" He asked, still holding her against the wall.

"No… what's going on, Dean? You're scaring me."

"What's the last thing you remember?" he asked.

Sarah thought for a moment then said, "Um… We were investigating the cannibal lovers… then it gets really fuzzy."

Dean stared at her for a moment trying to decide if she was lying or not. Sighing he said, "Alright, we need to talk. Come on." Then he picked up her gun and walked toward the stairs.

"What about Sam?"

"He stays in there. Come on, I'll explain upstairs."

She followed him upstairs and into the living room. "Hey, do you have the key to these handcuffs?" she asked.

He turned to look at her, "Um… Have a seat." His face was so serious looking, so full of pain and frustration.

"Tell me." She said after taking a seat on the couch.

"What did Michael tell you?" he asked bluntly.

"What?" Sarah asked.

"Right before Michael zapped you back to this year, he whispered in your ear. What did he say?"

"I don't… know… what you're talking about. What would that have to do with this stuff anyway?" She asked trying desperately to remember anything from the previous day.

"Cut the crap. I am in no mood for games." He said harshly.

She narrowed her eyes at him, "I'm not playing any games! Tell me what the hell is going on! And while you're at it take these damn things off of me!"

He huffed then said, "The horseman famine was behind all of those crazy deaths. Just him being there made everyone rabid for what they craved most."

"So… Sam…?"

"Fell off the wagon." Dean said sarcastically.

"So… did we get him at least?" she asked, too nervous to ask about what she did.

"Yeah. Sam took care of him."

Silence filled the room before, Sarah finally asked, "Why was I handcuffed to the bed upstairs?"

"To keep you from killing yourself." He said very bluntly.

"What? Why would I…" she said very surprised.

"You tell me."

"I don't know, Dean. That's why I'm asking you." She spat back.

"Let's see if this rings any bells… 'It hurts too much.'" Dean said while mimicking staring at a gun. "Bang."

She gave him a skeptical look, "You can't be serious."

"I've never been more serious."

"I don't believe it. You're making this up. What are you doing? Trying to play some sick prank on me? Well it's not funny." Sarah ranted angrily.

"Are you trying to tell me that you've never thought about offing you're self?" he retorted.

Sarah looked up at him a moment then stood, turning her back to him, obviously upset. "Like you haven't."

"This isn't about me."

"Then what is it about?"

"This is about you throwing yourself at me then trying to kill yourself."

Sarah stared down as flashes of the previous day went through her mind. "I… oh my… I threw myself at you."

"Yep."

"I… I'm sorry…" she started saying then looked up at him, "You pushed me away. How did you do that if Famine was in control of us?" Dean just looked at her. "If I remember correctly, Cas was infected, so was Sam and I. But you weren't, were you? Why is that?"

"I don't know, but that's not the point to all of this."

"What is then?"

"This is about what Michael told you."

"Dean, I'm not doing this. We always end up talking in circles and I hate it. Just let me out of these." She said tiredly.

"What so you can try to kill yourself again?" he retorted.

"What do you care, Dean? Would it really bother you if I did? Because if my memory is right, you don't need me. You don't feel anything for me anymore." She spat before walking out of the room.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"To get out of these things since you won't help me." She mumbled as she walked up the stairs a few minutes later, she reemerged with newly freed hands and a bag.

"You can't think that we are going to let you just leave." Dean said from his seat on the stairs as she walked passed him.

She stopped and said without turning to face him, "Dean… let's be honest. You have much more important things to worry about then me, so how about we take care of this right now. We both know, you are much better off without me. We are poison to each other. Nothing good ever comes from us being together. So… I will be leaving and we both know that you don't really want to stop me." Dean just sat there with his jaw set, staring at the floor. "Can I see Sam?"

Dean just stood up and led her back downstairs. He then opened the little window to the panic room, then stepped aside. She rolled her eyes at him and looked in the room. Sam was sitting on the bed trying to control his shaking.

Sarah pulled open the door and walked in. "Hey, Sambo." She said walking over to him as Dean closed them in.

Sam slowly looked up at her. "Hey."

She sat down next to him and put one arm around his shoulders and with the other she covered his shaking hands, "Shhh… Sam. You'll be better soon." She whispered soothingly, pulling him closer until his head rested on her shoulder. She placed a kiss on the top of his head as she stroked his hair. "I'm so sorry you have to go through this again."

"I… I'll be… fine." He struggled to say.

"You should try and sleep." She said moving his face so she could look at him. "Just remember, Sambo, you have been the best brother I could have ever asked for. I love ya, Sammy." Then she kissed his cheek and stood up.

He grabbed her hand before she could walk away. "You're leaving."

"Be good, Sambo." She said, slowly removing her hand from his, before walking over to the door. Tears streaming down her face. The door opened for her and she walked out, passed Dean.

She had reached the stairs before Dean said, "What I don't even get a goodbye?"

She sighed and turned to face him. "Goodbye, Dean." She pulled him in for a hug. "Take care of yourself." She then pulled back and left without another word.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Sarah, hunted alone for almost two months after her encounter with Famine. She had just finished up with a job and was looking for a new one in her motel room when a voice startled her.

"You know it's easier to hunt when you work with a team."

Sarah jumped from her seat and pointed her gun at the intruder. A man that was dress like a gardener stood before her, unfazed by her gun.

"Who are you?" She demanded.

"Let's just say… we have mutual friend." He answered. "You can call me Joshua."

"What are you doing here?"

"I've been instructed to shed some light on a few things." He said evasively.

"Like what?" she asked but he disappeared. She looked around the room, but he reappeared behind her and place his fingers on her forehead.

Looking around again, she found that they were no longer in her motel room but in another one that looked familiar.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"This is one of Dean's memories. One that he recently relived on a field trip in heaven." Joshua explained.

"Heaven? What? Is he….?" Sarah asked shocked.

"He is fine. For now." Just then they saw Dean break into the room, "Don't worry, he doesn't see us." Sarah instantly remembered where she'd seen this room before. "Remember where you are now?"

"This is where Dean and I…" Sarah trailed off as she watched herself walk out of the bathroom in her under ware and start digging through her bag. "Why was he reliving this?" she asked softly.

"This is one of his fondest memories. One that helps to keep him from giving up entirely." Joshua said as they watch Sarah and Dean begin to kiss. "Well I believe it's time for our next stop." He then touched her forehead again.

Joshua then showed Sarah several different moments in Dean's life where she'd helped to save him from himself.

Next he ported them to a diner that was filled with dead bodies. She saw a crippled old man sitting in a wheelchair and Castiel near by shoving raw hamburger meat into his mouth.

"The other Mr. Winchester." The old man said with difficulty.

"What did you do to him?" Dean asked gesturing to Cas.

'You sicced your dog on me. I just threw him a steak."

"Is that Famine?" Sarah asked, Joshua.

"Yes."

"So this is your big trick? Huh? Making people cuckoo for cocoa puffs?" Dean asked.

"Doesn't take much-hardly a push. Oh, America-all-you-can-eat, all the time. Consume, consume. A swarm of locusts in stretch pants. And yet, you're all still starving because hunger doesn't just come from the body, it also comes from the soul." Famine explained.

"It's funny, it doesn't seem to be coming from mine." Dean replied.

"Yes. I noticed that. Have you wondered why that is? How you could even walk in my presence?" Famine asked.

"Well, I like to think it's because of my strength of character." Dean said smugly.

"I disagree." Famine said, moving closer to Dean and touching him. "Yes. I see. That's one deep, dark nothing you got there, Dean. Can't fill it, can you? Not with food or drink. Not even with sex."

"Oh, you're so full of crap." Dean muttered.

"Oh, you can smirk and joke and lie to your brother, lie to yourself, but not to me! I can see inside you, Dean. I can see how broken you are, how defeated. You can't win, and you know it. But you just keep fighting. Just... keep going through the motions. You're not hungry, Dean, because inside, you're already...dead." Famine ranted.

"Let him go." Sam said, walking into the room.

"Why are you showing me all of this?" Sarah asked, tears glistening her eyes.

"I will tell you, but first we have one more stop to make." The touched her forehead again and they were transported to an enclosed garden. Sarah saw Sam and Dean talking with Joshua.

DEAN: I… I don't get it. God's not talking to nobody so…

JOSHUA: Why's he talking to me. I sometimes think it's because I can sympathize—gardener to gardener—and, between us, I think he gets lonely.

DEAN: (disgusted) Well, my heart's breaking for him.

SAM: (interrupting) Well, can you at least get him a message for us?

JOSHUA: Actually, he has a message for you. Back off.

DEAN: What?

JOSHUA: He knows already. Everything you want to tell him.

DEAN: But…

JOSHUA: He knows what the angels are doing. He knows that the Apocalypse has begun. He just doesn't think it's his problem.

DEAN: (stunned) Not his problem?

JOSHUA: God saved you already. He put you on that plane. He brought back Castiel. He granted you salvation in heaven (he turns to face Sam directly) and after everything you've done too. It's more than he's intervened in a long time. He's finished. Magic amulet or not, you won't be able to find him.

DEAN: But he can stop it. He can stop all of it.

JOSHUA: I suppose he could, but he won't.

DEAN: Why not?

JOSHUA: Why does he allow evil in the first place? You could drive yourself nuts asking questions like that.

DEAN: So he's just going to sit back and watch the world burn?

JOSHUA: I know how important this was to you, Dean. I'm sorry.

DEAN: (emotional) Forget it. Just another dead-beat dad with a bunch of excuses, right. I'm used to that. I'll muddle through.

JOSHUA: Except… you don't know if you can, this time. You can't kill the Devil, and you're losing faith, in yourself, your brother, and now this?

Sam looks at Dean. He's realizing just how desperate and depressed Dean really is.

JOSHUA: God was your last hope. I just… I wish I could tell you something different.

SAM: (concerned) How do we know you're telling the truth?

JOSHUA: You think that I would lie?

SAM: It's just that… you're not exactly the first angel we've met.

JOSHUA: I'm rooting for you boys! I wish I could do more to help you, I do! But... I just trim the hedges.

DEAN: So what now.

JOSHUA: You go home again. I'm afraid this time, won't be like the last. This time, God wants you (he lifts a hand) to remember.

Sarah watched as Joshua snapped his fingers making Sam and Dean disappear then looked over at Sarah.

"Why did you show me this?" she asked, tears spilling down her face.

"To show you that they need you more than ever."

"I thought God was done meddling in our lives."

"Well, maybe after this time. Just think of this as a gentle nudge. They need you to help them keep the faith."

"Faith in what, exactly?" she retorted.

"In each other and themselves." Joshua said. Sarah just looked up at him. "They are both ready to say 'yes'."

"What? They wouldn't."

"Dean almost did, before Castiel stopped him and now they are allowing Sam to." Joshua explained.

"What? Why?"

"Because Sam is going to sacrifice himself to save everyone. Only he can't do it alone. He needs Dean and you to help keep him strong." Joshua said before snapping his fingers and transporting Sarah back to her motel room.

She quickly packed up her belongings and loaded up her car. The last thing she did was grab her phone, which was blinking with a new message. She instantly played the message.

'Sarah… I, uh, I'm not sure what to say. I'm not even sure if you're getting the messages on this number anymore, but, I didn't want to… ah… go without telling you goodbye. The best thing my dad ever did for me was making you my sister. I love you. I hope you have a good life. Goodbye.'

Sarah stared at the phone in shock as fresh tears rolled down her face at Sam's message.

She tried to call him back but he didn't answer. Dean and Bobby didn't either. She quickly tried calling Chuck.

"H…hello?" Chuck answered.

"Chuck. Where are Sam and Dean?" Sarah asked bluntly.

"Sarah?"

"Yes it's Sarah. Now tell me, where they are."

"Sarah… Sam's said yes…"

"Already? Dammit. Where is he?"

As soon as Chuck told her the location, she grabbed her things and hit the road. She parked a ways away from the cemetery, to get a good look at the area. She was surprised to see that only Lucifer Sam was in the cemetery.

"Sarah. Good to see you." LS said as she approached. "Here to watch the show?"

"You do not seem surprised to see me." Sarah said.

"I believe I told you in a dream, that I'd be seeing you soon. So tell me. What's your big plan? Come to bat your eyes at me?"

"I've come to say a final goodbye to my brother. I couldn't let him go through this alone."

"Ah… so touching, but I'm bored now and it's almost time for the fun to start." He said before flinging her back against a headstone, knocking her out.

She woke up later to see the impala parked nearby. She stood up and looked through the back windows to see LS beating someone on the other side. He looked up at her and smirked before flicking his wrist at her again. High into the air this time.

This was it. Sarah knew this was the end for her, but little did she know, she had distracted LS enough for Sam to pull back through. LS was temporary blinded by the sunlight glinting off the roof of the impala. In that one moment, dozens of memories sprang through LS's façade, allowing for Sam to reemerge and jump into the hole, sealing Lucifer in his cage once more.

To be continued...


End file.
